| BlackICE Defender 2.5 | Easy setup and installation
Visible and audible alert function
Added port filtering capability
Trace attacker IP address
Real-time alerting
Easy to understand
Lot of information available about attacks | No remote management
No capability to set up an internal protected network
False positive alerts
No password protection
Additional programs needed to enhance functionality
Remote administration capability not available
Cannot filter outgoing data | This is a good basic program. The alerting capability is just right—not too annoying and glaring in the middle of your screen, but enough to get your attention. The port filtering addition has increased its value exponentially. For basic functionality that you can just plug in and forget about, this is a great choice. |
| Norton Personal Firewall | Automatically configures Internet applications for access
Privacy controls are unique
Antivirus software built in
Auto update feature
Online Security testing site from Symantec.com to check rules
Autoblock feature
Easy-to-understand interface
Ability to block cookies and active content
Ability to set up specific port rules that are not already defined | Filtering is not enabled by default
Trusts entire local network by default
Default security level is set to minimal
Difficult to get attack data
Remote administration capability not available
No password protection | The privacy checking gives Norton a unique feature that the other products do not have. The test feature can be useful. The update capability allows Symantec to upgrade the product with minimal effort on the user's part. The reporting capability is rather poor. The information about attacks is not readily available, but is sorted in a manner that can be useful. |
| Tiny Personal Firewall | Part of the ICSA Certified WinRoute Pro
Logs can be sent to a syslog server
Very compact
Provides MD5 checksums of programs
Easy to understand
Remote control capability
Password protection
Inexpensive
Runs at startup by default
Asks if you want to allow applications and connections to occur
Ability to stop all traffic immediately Granular port rules can be set up | No explanation of the attack
No ability to remove ports or port ranges from the firewall's scrutiny
Reboot required after install
No advanced filtering (Java/JavaScript pop-up windows, and so on)
Web-based supportis confusing to locate
No reporting mechanism to display attack information on screen in real time
Cannot backtrack attacker to his IP address
| Tiny Personal is a good free product. The Remote capability, although useful to administrators, will probably not see much use by home users. The lack of information on attacks and the inability to do lookups on attacker addresses can limit the usefulness of the product. Although the product is robust and has the ability to filter ports and IP addresses, it is not and the interface to easily understood, the port filtering is not intuitive. |
| Sygate Personal Firewall | Powerful configuration options
E-mail notification
Lists all services running and the ports that are listening
Backtrace ability can track an attacker's IP and WHOIS information
Detailed list of security log information
System log show system functions, startup, and shutdown
Ability to stop all traffic immediately
Sygate Web site has test function to test your filter rules
Password protection available
Ability to enable or disable all system services | Test site doesn't always function
Remote administration capability not available
Pop-up alerts can be hard to understand if the incoming traffic is low-level and cryptic | Sygate Personal Firewall is a comprehensive firewall that has just about all the necessary features. The interface is easy to understand and displays information in an easy-to-read format. The logs of attacks can be readily viewed, and information on the attacker is easy to retrieve. The e-mail notification is a good feature not found in many of the other products. The out of the box security is very good for the new user. |
| WinRoute Pro | ICSA Certified
Can monitor all outgoing traffic and ports used
Easy to set up DMZ network
| Complex configuration requires network knowledge
No default filter rules installed
No blocking at startup with defined rules
No explanation of attack
More expensive than other products
No built-in auto update feature
Cannot backtrack attacker to his IP address
| For the home user who has a good bit of networking knowledge and wants to set up a good home networked environment, WinRoute Pro is the best option. The ease of setting up rules can allow the novice to quickly grasp networking rules, and the help files are easy to understand. By far one of the best detailed firewall products on the market. You do have to have a good understanding of detailed filter rules to use this product correctly. |
| Zone Alarm Pro | Strict default configuration
Runs at startup by default
Ability to block incoming and outgoing traffic
Easy-to-understand user interface
Ability to stop all traffic immediately
Ability to block application attacks such as worms and Java
Ability to check for certain e-mail attacks
Password protection | Remote administration capability not available
Alerts might not be readily understood if the traffic is not intuitive
| With simple network settings and a great interface, this adds up to a powerful Internet security package. The addition of more advanced configuration options would be useful and would complete the already impressive feature set of this package. Even without this feature, ZoneAlarm proves to be a valuable product. |
