How good is Microsoft Windows Firewall?
Microsoft Windows Firewall claims to stop only _incoming_ traffic from attackers, etc..
Not much of a claim these days when even the free versions of firewalls such as ZoneAlarm, etc. will stop most unwanted traffic, both incoming and outgoing.
What is the purpose of stopping outgoing traffic?
Worms, spyware, keyloggers and other trojans can be easily installed in your Microsoft Windows computer (especially if you are using Internet Explorer) and this is done to send data from your computer out to the originating server to either retrieve instructions or collect data from you.
Do you really want this to go on? Then Windows Firewall is not the firewall for you.
Secondly, Microsoft Windows Firewall can be easily shutdown. Try installing ZoneAlarm - it’s installation process can shutdown Windows Firewall (probably so that it has no conflicts in it’s operations).
Now, if a legitimate program can do this, a well crafted worm, virus or script can do it as well - guaranteed.
Bottom line - do not trust Microsoft Windows Firewall to protect your computer. It’s a good start, but it’s not good protection.
4 Comments for "How good is Microsoft Windows Firewall?"
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» Diane Vigil
11/18/04 @ 3:34 am
Unfortunately, I’d bet the bulk of people using Windows have no firewall at all, in which case Microsoft Windows Firewall is better than nothing. But better than nothing does not equate to good.
» Windows XP on the Internet…?
12/7/04 @ 10:29 pm
[…] the results.) Article here My personal viewpoint on the Windows XP firewall can be found here. Suffice it to say, I highly suggest another firewall such as eithe […]
» ummz
04/10/05 @ 3:30 am
I HAVE A PENTIUM 3 AND WHEN I INSTALL ZONE ALARM IT SLOWS MY COMPUTER WAT CAN I DO
» Dan
04/10/05 @ 10:19 am
Hello Ummz,
First off, you should know that in Internet email or posts, using all capital letters is the same as screaming. I’d rather you didn’t scream at me. :-)
Secondly, you have not given any data as to your computer at all or what version of ZoneAlarm you are running, so I really can’t give you any definite suggestions other than to make sure you have an up-to-date anti-virus program running and have run at least one anti-spyware program such as Ad-aware which can be found here:
http://www.lavasoft.de
(Make sure you update it every time you run it!)
Cheers,
Dan