Suggestions Please for a Firewall w/ a Small Footprint

[30'06]

My second rig is an old Pentium 3 system that is running quite well. I currently have ZoneAlarmPro 6.0xx version and as soon as the subscription runs out it is bye-bye to this bloated, headache-causing, memory hogging software.

What I really need is a good, realiable firewall with a small footprint (footprint = memory usage/demand). I especially am interested in those that not only defend against incoming but outgoing as well i.e., "leaking."

There are a lot of firewalls out there but far too many don't do very well against the prevention of outgoing material freom your PC (again, this is called "leaking"). Help will be greatly appreciated.

[-=SparX=-]

I have used sygate 5.x for a couple years now and find it is easy to use on the surface and can be configured for the more technical features later on. I think symantec has since swallowed up this little gem and has probably given it a heafty diet.

[volunteer]

My second rig is an old Pentium 3 system that is running quite well. I currently have ZoneAlarmPro 6.0xx version and as soon as the subscription runs out it is bye-bye to this bloated, headache-causing, memory hogging software.

What I really need is a good, realiable firewall with a small footprint (footprint = memory usage/demand). I especially am interested in those that not only defend against incoming but outgoing as well i.e., "leaking."

There are a lot of firewalls out there but far too many don't do very well against the prevention of outgoing material freom your PC (again, this is called "leaking"). Help will be greatly appreciated.

I've used Sygate personal free firewall on old PIIs with good reslts.

Link

[30'06]

SparX, volunteer, thanks for the reply! I have been wondering about this firewall but you are the first two people I know that uses this freeware. I have four questions for you:

1. It is older but I have heard that firewalls don't change all that much. Is this true about them not really changing all that much?

2. There are new viruses, trojans ect., all the time. Hackers are very sophisticated today and they are always coming up with new ways to get around security measures. Since Sygate 5.6 is a few years old, is there any danger of it failing the present and future hackers?

3. Does it guard well from outgoing information?

4. Would you recommend it for new builds today?

[Spartacus]

A good hardware firewall is the smallest footprint you can get.

There are inexpensive firewall/routers that let you lock down outbound traffic as well as block inbound. You just open the ports you need for outbound. Hardware firewalls are also faster than doing it in software.

Lots of good info in this thread:

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=416607

[volunteer]

SparX, volunteer, thanks for the reply! I have been wondering about this firewall but you are the first two people I know that uses this freeware. I have four questions for you:

1. It is older but I have heard that firewalls don't change all that much. Is this true about them not really changing all that much?

2. There are new viruses, trojans ect., all the time. Hackers are very sophisticated today and they are always coming up with new ways to get around security measures. Since Sygate 5.6 is a few years old, is there any danger of it failing the present and future hackers?

3. Does it guard well from outgoing information?

4. Would you recommend it for new builds today?

I use Sygate for outgoing protection it lets me know if an application that doesn't have permission is trying to access the net. I use a router/firewall to protect my net. There are a lot of choices, Linksys and Netgear are what I use. No matter what you hear bad about the XP firewall, it's very very good. Lot's of choices; check out the link Spartacus gave you. If you want to get a lot more data checkout Dslreports forums covering all the differents venders and lot's of models.

Yes, router/firewalls don't change much except maybe firmware. Software firewalls make changes a lot.

If a virus/trojan enfects your PC, they can disable the software firewalls and a lot more.

I recommend each user read all they can and analyze there usage to determine what best for them.

[-=SparX=-]

Volunteer has pretty much said it...
I too use sygate as an internal outgoing blocker as it does well to stop new application's and hijacks from getting out to do whatever. I still use it for this and have had the occasional signature update to d'load and i also use a Hardware firewall/router which does all the external incoming traffic control.

[30'06]

-=SparX=-, how does one determine if their router's hardware firewall is enabled? I haven't had this router long and I have no previous experience, so any clear and easy to follow directions would be most welcomed. My router is a wired, not wireless. Linksys 4 port router.

Also, if I read your correctly, even though Sygate 5.6 is a few years old you are very comfortable and pleased with the protectiong it provides. Correct? Would you recommend it for new builds as well? Thanks.

[Spartacus]

>>how does one determine if their router's hardware firewall is enabled?

Most hardware firewalls are enabled by default. They may not be properly configured at the default settings though. Look at all of the router/firewall's setup options and make sure they are set properly.

Here's a very basic online firewall test:

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[-=SparX=-]

30'06 , Yes i still use sygate as i trust it still after all this time. It would not be good of me to reccomend it over other/newer s/w-firewalls tho as i havn't tested many, I will say that symantecs products are over priced -resource hungry -computer crippling -bloated crapware (imho). ZoneAlarm when i last tryed it was still an annoying and overly complicated application that i couldn't recommend to family or friends and the lesser pc-literate types. I also prefer to use opera web browser which is now totally free and has very good browsing speeds, tabbed browsing and a popup blocker among other nice features which also helps with security these days. Firefox has these also but i prefer the opera style at the mo. Online security is multiple layers of user control and a fair bit of experience just comes from learning the hard way. Your routers settings are something you are gonna have to "rtfm" for a bit and google the stuff you aren't sure about or ask for specific details in these forums.

G'luk ;-)

(rtfm = Read The Friendly Manual)

Edit~ what is the exact model of your linksys ? (probably BEFxxxx or similar)

[Amd=cool]

To be honest with you in my opinion a hardware firewall along with windows firewall is gonna be the best solution. check your ports using the above link, if your router is lacking firewall protextion thenspend your money on a nicer router. All firewall software in the past i have tried have one way or another slowed down my PC, popped up everytime i did something and want constant attention.

pete

[30'06]

Well I finally decided to go with Sunbelt's Kerio Professional 4.2 firewall for both my S939 and older Pentium 3 computers. A single license was $19.99 but because I bought two licenses, and I didn't know this at the time, it only cost me $29.99. Now that was a nice surprise!

Anyway, I linked to the link for grc.com which has the Shields UP! program and both firewalls passed every test -- perfectly. I am more than a little surprised because I didn't know what to expect as I was taking a chance. Of course I need to do some tweaking because this firewall will allow me access every one of my favorite sites, but it won't allow me to make a post on some of them like AnandTech.com. I don't know why is makes an exception for here and at Overclockers forums.

Kerio never causes slowdowns as ZoneAlarm had, and the delay is miniscule, sometimes never, for page loading.