I've just got ADSL with Nildram, and it's great, it's magic, it's
better than sliced bread. I just can't get over the speed. I
downloaded the Newsgroup headers and it took about 45 seconds. Magic.
Now can someone put me right as far as Firewalls are concerned. I am
using a speedtouch 510 router with built in firewall, along with
Zonealarm. My dealer suggested that I get rid of Zonealarm as I no
longer need it, and it takes up system resources. Would this be
right, and do I not need a system Firewall installed? Many thanks.

-
Peter James
Change AT to @ to reply

I'm using a Speedtouch 530 which also has the built in firewall and my
PC-Cillin 2002 anti virus also has it's fire wall enabled. Before I had the
PC-Cillin 2002 and also ADSL, I used to run the free Zone Alarm but removed
it when my anti-virus was updated to include it's own firewall.

What a difference removing Zone Alarm makes, I could instantly notice a
speed performance on the then 56k connection. Zone alarm must have been
really hogging some resources -- but at the time when I had no alternative I
was still pleased to use it.

I think now you have an alternative, which is the firewall in your router,
uninstall Zone Alarm and free up the resources it is using. Incidentally, I
do run the PC-Cillin firewall still, set at a 'server' level so that other
PC's on my network can see it, but it has not logged any attacks on it's
firewall since I have been using the ADSL Speedtouch 530 which must indicate
that the firewall in the router is doing it's job.

The router is an excellent place to have the firewall, it means that
anything connected to the internet via that router is protected, it's why I
decided to buy a router and not just an adsl modem.

jsp21c wrote:
What you've forgotten is that by running a firewall on your system you
can effectively control what is connecting out from your PC. You may
be unpleasantly suprised by the number of programs which either come
with built in 'phone home' or load them as valued added extras.

Add to this the fact that in the unfortunate instance where you may
get infected with a trojan/virus/certain types of worms, your software
firewall may be the first indication that there is something wrong,
remembering that all AV programs are permanently running catch-up to
the viruses (how can you block something which hasn't even been
written yet??).

It's a belt & braces situation where I believe it is best to have both
a hard coded firewall as well as a software driven one, but I know
others will take exception....

--
B-)
Life is pain.....
Deal with it!!

"Kraftee" <kraftee@bogoffspammer.ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:jqE6b.3066$1%2.59345@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...
Kraftee

Totally agree.
Three times ZA has pointed out to me that 'uninvited apps' have been trying
to connect to the internet - in spire of my router/modems firewall.
I would also recommend something to protect against spyware. I use spybot,
but there are others.

HTH

eric

--
Remove the dross to contact me directly

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 11:14:43 +0100, Peter James
<nospam@pfjames.gotadsl.co.uk> wrote:

Many thanks for all of the replies. Maybe I'll keep Zonealarm, for
the foreseeable future anyhow. Thanks.
-
Peter James
Change AT to @ to reply

It depends on the rules you construct, you can filter both in and outbound
connections. I'd configure the hardware firewall on the router correctly and
use that!

phoenix wrote:
--

(¯`·._.· All Outgoing Mail Scanned With Norton Anti-Virus 2003 ·._.·´¯)

In article <jqE6b.3066$1%2.59345@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net>,
Kraftee <kraftee@bogoffspammer.ntlworld.com> wrote:

With a UPnP router such as the Speedtouch 510/530 your security may be
short lived. Any program - whether deliberately installed or a virus -
can tell the router to open a port.

-- Richard
--
Spam filter: to mail me from a .com/.net site, put my surname in the headers.

FreeBSD rules!

Mark&Lisa wrote:
Linux has (well can have) security holes as well, there just not
exploited so much as the OS is still very much a minority product. If
it was a major OS you'd see a lot more activity in the virus/trojan
department..

--
B-)
Life is pain.....
Deal with it!!

Kraftee wrote:
rofl

Mark&Lisa wrote:
Obviously someone who has been convinced by the plastic penguin, hope
they don't find out the hard way....

--
B-)
Life is pain.....
Deal with it!!

In article <BTI7b.1098$3z4.9860@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net>,
Kraftee <kraftee@bogoffspammer.ntlworld.com> wrote:

That is all true, but it doesn't change the fact that unix-family
operating systems are more secure. People don't usually run as root,
they don't have mail systems that "open" attachments when they are
executable code, and by default there are usually fewer bug-infested
programs listening on ports that you don't know about.

-- Richard
--
Spam filter: to mail me from a .com/.net site, put my surname in the headers.

FreeBSD rules!