Comodo Firewall

[Demon Cleaner]

Has anyone of you tested the Comodo Firewall yet? Yesterday I read some very positive reviews about it, most say it's the best firewall to date and it's also completely free.

Here are some firewall ratings.

[Harrison]

I've not heard of this firewall, but I am on the lookout for a new one as my current firewall license is due to expire soon, and if it is as good as that firewall rating is showing and completely free then I might just give it a go!

Thanks for the link. I will definitely be investigating this further and giving it a test.

[Demon Cleaner]

I will also install it, as currently I'm only using the XP firewall, although nothing ever happened, there's still the firewall on the router.

[Buleste]

I used to use it and whilst it is less annoying than some products and more configurable than others I never thought of it as an outstanding product, more Ronseal.
If your ever looking for free stuff on the web go here for everything from AV software to shampoo.

[Harrison]

The current one I used, Outpost Pro, is definitely good and keeps itself to itself unless it definitely needs to notify you of a problem, but I think some other firewalls have now overtaken it over the last two years in total security terms.

So I'm going to try this free firewall out on one of my secondary PCs and see how it behaves.

[Buleste]

A quick warning about Outpost Pro. I got rid of this over a year ago and i'm still trying to erradicate traces of it on my sytem. The damn thing just will not uninstall properly and yes i have tried everything. I haven't checked for a while but i think i finally got rid of it the other week.

[Bloodwych]

I've been using Comodo v2.4 for ages now and it's a superb firewall. They're into v3 currently, but I advise waiting a little longer for it to mature as its new features need a little ironing out. v2.4 however, still available for download, is rock solid and very well developed.

It may take a little time to get used to its triple layer protection if you want to get to grips with advanced settings, but if you use it in its default config then it's no harder than any other with only a few pop ups until it learns your system.

I'd never recommend Windows default firewall as it has no outgoing protection, only inbound. What this means is it doesn't bug you with popups, but it allows any software or potential unwanted programs to call home and make a connection. It will inform you of listening (or server) programs, but not those making outgoing connections. However, if you are confident in your surfing habits and are careful what you download and run, it usually suffices as adequate protection although control over programs calling home when they wish is not possible and may compromise your privacy.

Even in its default and most usable state (read min popups), Comodo detects all outgoing connections and passes many tricks and leak tests, more or as well as any other firewall I believe. Even if a program or its parent files have changed (like when you update your browser for instance), a popup requester will ask you to confirm the change is expected.

Comodo v3 has a new feature called defense+ that works a bit like windows defender - monitoring for activity that is suspicious and referring to a safe list of recognized programs, but not scanning random files like a virus checker.

It uses a HIPS system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusi...vention_system

[Sharingan]

Still using the ancient Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5 here. Requires a bit of tweaking to configure well (it's fully rule-based), but I stick with it because it's so lightweight (uses only 4 MB and next to 0% CPU power) and doesn't come with 1001 'extras' that I don't need. Haven't had an infection or intrusion in, what, 10 years or so since I started using it.

If I ever upgrade from WinXP, I might start exploring some alternatives, like Comodo.

[Harrison]

Well... it's probably more accurate to state that you haven't had any intrusions that you know about! After all, a firewall will only detect and report what it is designs to. Therefore if it can't detect more recent attack types you won't ever know.

[Harrison]

Quick update. I've been using this free firewall for some time now and it seems really good. It doesn't keep throwing up loads of messages every time I use anything that tries to access the internet which is a huge improvement over any other firewalls I've used and it only ever asks about a program the first time it tries to access the internet. So all good. It's malware scanner seems pretty good too, and combined with the spyware scanner built into the Kaspersky virus scanner I also use I think I'm quite well covered at the moment.