Which Firewall is better? Free firewall. Review of the seven best
If you used a personal computer in the 90s, you probably thought that firewalls were necessary for organizations, but not for ordinary users. It took the ZoneAlarm team several years to convince consumers of the need for reliable network protection using a firewall. ZoneAlarm Free Firewall has been developing all this time, and its interface has been transformed. The product remains an excellent choice for users who want more features than Windows' built-in security offers.
The program installs instantly and starts working immediately. The main window is made in gray, green and blue tones and contains three large panels: Antivirus, Firewall and Identity & Data. The antivirus panel is grayed out - it is assumed that the user can use the solution with any preferred antivirus, for example, the free AVG AntiVirus Free or Panda Free Antivirus. When installing the product, you can optionally choose to install ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 2017.
Protection against hacker attacks
ZoneAlarm has not received major changes since the previous release, which means it is still effective in countering network attacks. During testing, port scans and other types of web attacks were carried out, but the product reliably fended them off. ZoneAlarm successfully put all system ports into stealth mode, making them invisible to attacks coming from the Internet.
ZoneAlarm invented the concept of a firewall protection mechanism against direct targeted attacks. During testing, it was not possible to terminate the program processes or interact in any way with Windows services - in all attempts the message “Access Denied” was displayed. It also failed to disable protection by manipulating the system registry.
Intrusion prevention is a feature that is associated with firewall technologies, but this is not entirely true. When attacking a test system using 30 exploits generated by the CORE Impact tool, ZoneAlarm did not react at all. However, the attacks were not able to compromise the security of the system because security patches were installed on it in a timely manner.
By comparison, Symantec Norton AntiVirus Basic blocked two-thirds of exploits at the network level, ensuring they couldn't reach the target system. Kaspersky Internet Security performed well in this test - the product blocked about half of the exploits.
ZoneAlarm assigns networks to the Public Zone or Trusted Zone. By default, the security level is raised to the maximum level when connecting to a public network. The user will be able to connect to the network, but other devices on it will not be able to communicate with the user's device. In the trusted zone, a medium level of security is established, it becomes possible to exchange files and send documents for printing.
Application Control
The built-in firewall in Windows is effective at blocking external attacks. The main reason for choosing a third-party firewall is to gain application control functionality, which helps prevent unwanted applications from using the network and Internet.
In earlier versions of ZoneAlarm, the user had to decide for himself which programs could access the Internet. Numerous pop-up queries confused users. Allow or block? Who knows! In recent years, the company has added a cloud database of famous applications. ZoneAlarm can now automatically set the appropriate network permissions for almost any program you use.
If you look at the settings in detail, you will find a slider that sets the security level for application control. Available values: off (off), minimum (Min), average (Med) and maximum (Max). The default level is set to medium - in this mode, ZoneAlarm does not screen all programs. The product detected an attempt to access the Internet from a custom browser and automatically allowed access.
When the maximum security level was set, ZoneAlarm began to respond to all unknown programs and display a request to allow or block access. This security regime had other noticeable effects. Thus, the behavioral analysis component OSFirewall switched to an enhanced mode of operation and notified about a wide range of actions that may indicate malicious activity, but may also be signs of a safe program.
When trying to install 20 old PCMag utilities, ZoneAlarm generated at least one alert for each application. One of the installed utilities caused four warnings to be displayed. A similar feature in Comodo Firewall 8 generated even more warnings.
Protection of personal information
See the Identity & Data page in ZoneAlarm for additional ways to enhance your security. To get started, you can activate the 5 GB cloud backup storage offered by ZoneAlarm's partner, IDrive. The same storage can be obtained directly from IDrive.
Another ZoneAlarm partner, Identity Guard, offers a free one-year subscription to personal data protection. After registering and entering data, the service warns about various events, for example, data verification or potential account takeover. You can access the Data Theft Help Desk.
Identity Lock offers a completely different approach to protecting personal data. The user simply adds confidential data to a special safe. ZoneAlarm allows you to save 15 different types of data, including credit card numbers, online store passwords, and even your mother's maiden name. It is also possible to use a different category.
For each object, you can set one-way encryption, otherwise the data will be at risk. You should also leave data protection options for the Internet and email activated.
If you set the Identity Lock protection level to high, the function will block data transfer from your computer until you visit a web resource that you personally define as trusted. Personal information is replaced with asterisks. In medium security mode, Identity Lock displays a warning and suggests blocking the transfer. During testing, there were cases where data was sent despite attempts to block the transmission. Additionally, Identity Lock cannot protect data transmitted to HTTPS-protected sites.
Easy win
Previously, there was fierce competition in the third-party firewall segment, but systematic improvements to the Windows Firewall have eased this competition. Paid firewalls found themselves in a particularly disadvantageous position, the need for which dropped sharply with the advent of free and effective system protection.
ZoneAlarm remains PCMag's Editors' Choice in the third-party firewall category. The product shares the title with Comodo Firewall 8, which, however, has not been updated for quite some time. If you want advanced firewall protection, then feel free to choose these solutions.
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall 2017 review:
Advantages
- hides all system ports to prevent external attacks;
- control of Internet access from applications;
- successfully resists direct targeted attacks;
- includes cloud backup feature and other additional tools.
Flaws
- there is no protection against exploits;
- OSFirewall technology flags both malicious and benign programs if the settings are set to maximum security.
Overall rating
What is the best firewall ( Firewall) for Windows - this question plagues many Internet users, paid or free, software or hardware. This question can be answered immediately and almost unambiguously: the best firewall ( Firewall) this is a hardware one, but the best firewall ( Firewall) this is the one that is adjusted with straight hands...
As previously mentioned the best firewall ( Firewall) this is hardware, prices for which sometimes reach 50-70 thousand. but today’s topic will be a brief analysis of software firewalls ( Firewall) For Windows in terms of reliability/performance ratio...
Firewall (Firewall) an important element in your PC security arsenal. Unfortunately, the standard firewall ( Firewall) for Windows does not provide the desired functionality and blocks or allows only incoming connections, while all outgoing connections are allowed by default, although the reliability of the built-in Windows firewall (Firewall) without doubt.
The most popular firewalls today ( Firewall) for personal PCs this is:
You need to decide what is the decisive factor for you when choosing - ease of use or reliability/performance?! Above given list of the most common firewalls (Firewall) for Windows, in order of preference by our citizens. We will not delve into the details of each product, but will consider only the main points of the first two...
Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro
Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro developed by domestic programmers and is the most preferred firewall ( Firewall) among ordinary ordinary domestic users who almost never look at " Task Manager". Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro more convenient to use and provides more extensive information about ongoing network events around your PC..
It is easy to use and provides good statistics about what is happening on the network, but ease of use does not mean reliability/performance! Ease of use " Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro"costs the user an overexpenditure of system resources and, in some places, regular BSOD. So for example the combination NOD32 v4.0 + Outpost Firewall 2.x called regular BSOD, Outpost Firewall older ones are more voracious for system resources, especially when downloading large files over a fast network connection and from servers with good performance!
The versions of " Outpost Firewall"above the 6th in which the process" acs.exe"When downloading large files over a fast network connection and from servers with good returns, it devours from 15 and up to 50% system resources, and sometimes even higher! And here it doesn’t matter setting the rules or disabling all additional features - it devours system resources ( CPU+Memory) no matter what and even in idle state ( CPU 8-15%)!!! In version " Outpost Firewall 7.5"named" Performance Edition":)) "acs.exe"When idle, it behaves less aggressively, but the time it takes to download large files over a fast network connection and from servers with good performance still eats up from 15 and up to 50%
Version " Outpost Firewall 4"not so voracious, but crashes were often observed when changing user accounts and more! No offense to the company's programmers" Agnitum"but they are still very far from products like" Comodo Firewall Pro", "Comodo Internet Security" or " Checkpoint Firewall-1"! Whatever one may say, Western developers are achieving greater success in the software field than domestic ones...
Comodo Firewall Pro
After long wanderings in search of the best firewall ( Firewall) my choice finally settled on " Comodo Firewall Pro 3.14"which is different from" Outpost Firewall"remarkably stops attempts at incoming connections and does not wildly devour system resources - when idle it uses no more 0-2% CPU and 3-4 MV. In addition, when completely turned off or dropped, " Comodo Firewall Pro 3.14"which is unlikely, there is no access to the network, which cannot be said about " Outpost Firewall".
The program is able to independently analyze each potential threat and, if necessary, issue an appropriate warning. Wherein " Comodo Firewall"recognizes more than 10,000 different applications in various categories ( for example, “safe”, “spyware”, “adware”, etc.).
"Comodo Firewall"also has proactive protection, proactive protection includes HIPS ( Host Intrusion Prevention Systems) - a system for repelling local threats. The task of HIPS is to monitor the operation of applications and block potentially dangerous operations based on specified criteria.
Main characteristics " Comodo Firewall Pro":
- - Complete constant control and protection of your personal computer from Internet attacks, Trojans, hackers, malicious scripts and other unknown threats.
- - Free updates - Comodo Firewall Pro will notify you about the availability of updates and, after your consent, will install them.
- - Full control over the activity of programs on the Internet.
- - Control over software updates.
- - Real-time traffic monitoring gives you the ability to instantly respond to possible threats.
- - Simple, intuitive multilingual interface ( including Russian).
- - Free for home and other online users.
"Comodo Firewall Pro"by default it does not provide statistics on all rejected attempts at incoming connections, but if you create certain rules and properly configure it, you can get these statistics. My choice is definitely in favor of " Comodo Firewall Pro 3.14"and I think that it will remain unchanged... Why version 3.14, and not 4.x or 5.x? - yes, because version 3.x concentrates the most basic functions without unnecessary bells and whistles and is less demanding resources than 4.x or 5.x?...
According to the website matousec.com, Comodo products continue to occupy first positions among test participants: http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive-security-challenge/results.php
The truth in " Comodo Firewall Pro"there are no such useful features as blocking active elements and the statistics are poor, but this drawback in favor of saving system resources can be compensated for by the Firefox browser and the AdBlock + NoScript plugins, and if necessary, we will collect statistics with other programs...
wipfw
wipfw is an analogue of the ipfw console firewall, but only for Windows. It has more features compared to the standard firewall from Windows XP. Can limit the number of connections from a specific IP address or range of IP addresses. It is possible to identify packets by the set flags SYN, FIN, etc.
I ran into a serious problem. Young Windows was good, but it had a huge number of dangerous vulnerabilities that made it easy for hackers to penetrate the system. The only way out of the situation was to develop separate software that would monitor network activity and stop unwanted traffic.
Microsoft developed its own firewall and integrated it into Windows. Today we know this application as Windows Firewall. Unfortunately, the built-in firewall turned out to be not very reliable. Your computer still needs third-party applications to ensure network security. Here are the best free firewalls that will give you that security.
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall - one of the oldest and most famous firewalls. Its first version was released back in 2000, and the latest one was released in January 2017. The firewall can hide open ports, detect suspicious traffic and disable malware. ZoneAlarm Free Firewall also regularly communicates with the DefenseNet server, from where it obtains information about the most current threats. The firewall can protect the user’s PC when working through public Wi-Fi points. The only disadvantage of ZoneAlarm Free Firewall is that it may conflict with other programs that provide network security.
Comodo Firewall
If you don't like firewalls that bother you with too frequent notifications, you should pay attention to Comodo Firewall . This program is quite “silent” and does not bother the user over trifles. Meanwhile, Comodo Firewall is quite reliable. The firewall monitors your network and compares system and application data with a huge list of dangerous files. Currently, this list contains information about more than 2 million threats. It is replenished daily.
PeerBlock
While many firewalls attempt to provide comprehensive protection, PeerBlock serves only one purpose. This firewall blocks access to your computer from known dangerous addresses. This is an excellent choice if you want to protect your privacy from ad networks, tracking software, government or private anti-piracy organizations, and other Internet nasties. PeerBlock automatically updates the list of potentially dangerous addresses, but you can also change it manually.
TinyWall
TinyWall - a lightweight and silent firewall that does not irritate the user with pop-ups and notifications. Essentially, TinyWall can be considered a plugin that improves the performance of the built-in Windows firewall. The program is perfect for beginners, since it does not have any complicated settings.
OpenDNS
OpenDNS is not a downloadable firewall, but an Internet service that provides publicly accessible and secure DNS servers to everyone. You just need to specify the correct data in your router settings so that all your traffic goes through these servers. This is very convenient for users whose home network has many Internet-connected devices, especially smart home gadgets.
Anti NetCut3
If you often need to use public Wi-Fi, firewall Anti NetCut3 can help you protect your system when connecting to a compromised point. This program is designed with the sole purpose of monitoring a specific network connection. All you have to do is specify which adapter to monitor. This could be a Wi-Fi adapter if you are connecting over the air, or a network card if you are accessing the Internet via cable.
Most users, when deciding on computer security, limit themselves to installing commercial or, believing that this is quite enough for “one hundred percent” protection. However, this is not quite true.
The Internet is full of dangers and in most cases, it is through the network that malicious applications penetrate the computer, and then, having nestled in, they themselves begin to transfer the personal data of an unsuspecting user to the network, or use the computer to distribute spam or as a proxy server.
Therefore, it is so important that each computer also has a good firewall installed, or as they also say, a firewall. In this short review we bring to your attention seven best free firewalls: Ashampoo Firewall Free, PC Tools Firewall Plus, Emsisoft Online Armor Free, ZoneAlarm Free Firewall, Filseclab Personal Firewall Professional Edition, Outpost Firewall Free and Comodo Firewall. The choice is yours.
Ashampoo Firewall Free
First on our list is Ashampoo Firewall Free. Like most programs developed by the company, this firewall has a convenient and colorful interface with Russian language support and a built-in settings wizard.
To use the program, you must go through a simple registration procedure on the manufacturer’s website. In this case, a free code will be sent to the user's mailbox, which can be used to register Ashampoo Firewall.
Immediately after installation, the wizard will offer to configure the program by choosing one of two modes: “Simplified” and “Expert”. In most cases, it is recommended to use Expert mode.
The program has five main modules or sections. In the “Rules” section you can configure connection parameters for programs that use the Internet. The “Statistics” and “Journal” modules are purely informational. Here you can view data about all connections and events.
The “Configuration” module is intended for internal settings of the firewall itself. The “Utilities” section contains four additional tools, namely, a process manager, a utility for clearing Internet surfing history, and a pop-up blocker.
Ashampoo Firewall Free works approximately as follows: when an application for which there are no established rules tries to establish a connection, the firewall notifies the user about this, offering to create a new rule for this program, that is, allow or block its access to the network.
When you disable this function (learning mode), the dialog will not be shown, and all applications for which no rules have been set will be blocked automatically. You can also use the “Block all” option. In this case, the firewall will block all connections without exception.
PC Tools Firewall Plus
Next, we recommend that you pay attention to an excellent firewall called PC Tools Firewall Plus. Simple, free, with Russian language support, this firewall is one of the most reliable and effective, according to numerous user reviews. PC Tools Firewall Plus protects the system from unauthorized data transmission by Trojans, keyloggers and other malicious programs, and also prevents them from penetrating the computer.
It also supports flexible management of network traffic, creating your own rules, protecting settings with a password, and hiding the presence of a PC on the network. The program is easy to install and does not require registration and system reboot as is the case with Ashampoo Firewall.
Connection parameters are configured manually. It is advisable to do this immediately after installing the program, since by default PC Tools Firewall Plus marks some applications as unverified and therefore may partially block their operation. The firewall user interface has six to five main sections.
The Applications module is designed to manage programs and create rules for them. You can create a list of tested ports and IP addresses in the “Profiles” section, and if you want to analyze network traffic, you can switch to the “Operation” section. In the general settings, you can adjust the level of protection, set up filtering, full-screen mode, and also set a password to protect PC Tools Firewall Plus itself.
Emsisoft Online Armor Free
Third place on our list is taken by a free firewall from Emsisoft GmbH called Online Armor Free. The program has a fairly impressive set of protection tools against all kinds of online threats, as well as blocking malware that uses the Internet. Online Armor Free includes four main protection modules: firewall, web filter, proactive protection and anti-keylogger.
The firewall and web filter provide reliable protection against information leakage from the user’s computer, and also prevent unauthorized access attempts to the system by malicious scripts.
The proactive protection module allows you to control the behavior of programs and, if necessary, limit their activities.
Online Armor Free automatically scans your system for potentially dangerous applications and flags them accordingly. The firewall uses updated online databases to determine the security level of applications installed on the system.
Online Armor Free has a fairly simple and convenient interface with support for the Russian language. The main menu is located on the left side of the working window; the right side displays the program status, the date of the last database update, as well as the latest news from the developer’s website. Online Armor Free supports creating rules for programs, managing ports and devices, creating lists of ignored domains, controlling the startup of suspicious applications, as well as controlling permissions to change the HOSTS file.
The firewall's capabilities also include protection against spam, keyloggers, cookie blocking, site classification, and protection against forced changes to the home page address of Internet Explorer, Opera and Firefox browsers. Additional features of the application include support for virtual desktops, subnet scanning, as well as disabling HIPS and setting a password on the GUI.
ZoneAlarm Free Firewall
If the lack of the Russian language does not bother you, you can pay attention to ZoneAlarm Free Firewall - a very unique firewall in terms of design, designed to protect PCs when working on global and local networks.
The application has an easy interface with a minimum number of settings. Supports control of user programs (access list), Internet traffic tracking, checking email attachments, detailed logging, blocking pop-up windows and advertising banners.
In addition, the program has a cookie control function, which allows you to limit the transfer of confidential information to the websites you view. The user can set the protection level independently. You can download the ZoneAlarm web installer completely free from the developer’s website.
During the installation process of the package, in addition to the firewall, a number of additional protection tools are also installed - Web Identity Protections (web lock), Identity Protections (personal identification) and Online Backup (backup). After installing the firewall, you need to restart your computer.
Filseclab Personal Firewall Professional Edition
Filseclab Personal Firewall Professional Edition is another free, convenient and very simple firewall. The program supports creating individual rules for programs using a step-by-step wizard, filtering network access, viewing connections in real time, keeping logs, and monitoring traffic. Filseclab Personal Firewall responds to attempts by “doubtful” or new applications to open a connection by displaying a pop-up window asking you to create a corresponding rule.
The program uses three main security levels, each of which is marked with a corresponding color: green, yellow and red. In addition, for each level it is possible to create personal rules. Filseclab Personal Firewall has a fairly simple interface divided into seven sections.
The “Status” section displays the volume of traffic and the number of transmitted packets; “Monitor” displays the listening ports and application connections.
In the Rules section, you can set rules for a specific application or domain.
The remaining sections are of an informative nature. There is no Russian language in Filseclab Personal.
Outpost Firewall Free
The next firewall, Outpost Firewall Free, is perhaps one of the simplest and least demanding firewall systems. In this respect, it is akin to the standard Windows firewall, which, as a rule, is constantly present in the system and does not show itself :).
Outpost Firewall is a fairly easy-to-use program designed to protect against external intrusions, as well as unauthorized transfer of data by applications installed on the user’s computer. Unlike other firewalls, Outpost Firewall Free requires virtually no preliminary configuration.
The application supports monitoring of all incoming and outgoing connections, tracking software activity in real time, and extensibility using built-in modules. In the event of a threat or network activity of “dubious” programs, Outpost Firewall will notify the user about this and offer to allow or block the application that has declared itself.
Outpost Firewall Free has a very simple user interface, not burdened with “extra” functions. Russian language, unfortunately, is missing.
However, this is not so important - the program is simple enough that even a novice user can understand it. A few settings allow you to adjust the level of protection if necessary (up to completely blocking connections), as well as create exclusion rules for various programs and services.
Comodo Firewall
And finally, we suggest you briefly familiarize yourself with another free firewall, Comodo Firewall. This powerful, feature-rich program with an impressive set of tools is initially bundled with Comodo Antivirus, Comodo Defense and the Dragon web browser, but can also be installed separately.
The firewall provides complete protection against hacker attacks, Trojans, malicious scripts, keyloggers and other types of Internet threats. The application supports monitoring of incoming and outgoing traffic, working with ports, hiding a computer on the network, monitoring software and driver updates
Additional firewall functions include maintaining a detailed event log, integration into the Windows Security Center, quick switching between modes (from the system tray), system protection during startup, detection of unidentified files, viewing active processes and launching applications in a special sandbox (Sandbox).
With such a solid set of tools, Comodo Firewall has a simple Russian-language interface aimed at users inexperienced in network settings. All tools and functions of the application are distributed among four modules, and each option has a corresponding description.
Plus, the program is equipped with a system of interactive dialogues (pop-up windows), written in an extremely simple and understandable language for a novice user.
Bottom line
Choosing a good firewall can seem like a daunting task. And to make this work easier, let me give you some free advice. First, when choosing a firewall, pay attention to the opinions of experienced users and software testers. As a rule, a really good firewall leaves a lot of positive reviews.
Secondly, a good firewall should not enter into unreasonable conflicts with system drivers, popular applications and antiviruses, and also be able to work with Windows Security Center.
The presence of updated databases is also very desirable. In addition, a good firewall cannot be easily disabled from the Task Manager (this can be done with Filseclab Personal Firewall).
Thirdly, the firewall should not slow down the system in any way. For example, in this regard, the ZoneAlarm firewall seriously loses, since it is quite demanding on system resources and can slow down the work of a weak machine.
Also, before making your final choice, it is advisable to test the firewall using a special program 2ip Firewall Tester. Everything else, such as the presence of the Russian language, user-friendliness of the interface, external design, is secondary.
Few people think about setting up a Firewall until they encounter problems with the security of their Windows 10 computer, laptop or tablet. You can be smart and download the best free Firewall for Windows 10 before problems arise and set everything up perfectly. In this article, we will tell you about the best firewalls, create a rating, and you can decide for yourself which option suits you best.
What is Firewall
Before we talk about the best firewalls, it would be useful to know what a firewall is. This word comes from the English – Firewall, and means the protective screen of your device. Firewall controls incoming and outgoing traffic, thereby preventing outside interference into your device and preventing the theft of personal data. Very often you can come across another name - Firewall, in this context we are talking about the same thing.Firewall rating for Windows 10
The operating system initially has a built-in Firewall, which provides decent protection for the OS. However, the built-in Firewall does not offer fine-tuning options, so you should choose a third-party solution. But before installing a third-party solution, you will probably need to disable the Windows 10 firewall. This is necessary just in case you want to install a firewall from a third-party developer. Otherwise, it is possible that the utilities will conflict with each other. Among the best firewalls for Windows 10, we would like to highlight the following: All of the firewalls listed are free and have earned the title of the best thanks to the experience of hundreds of users. Let's look at each option in more detail.Windows 10 Firewall Control
Windows 10 Firewall Control is a small utility that allows you to fine-tune the built-in firewall. A convenient interface in Russian and truly comprehensive settings that are suitable even for system administrators - that’s what made Windows 10 Firewall Control the best firewall.Comodo Firewall
Comodo Firewall - exists as an independent product, and is also part of the antivirus. Installs on any version of Windows 10 - 32 and 64 bit, and works completely unnoticed, without loading the system or slowing down the computer. If after setting up the firewall you start having performance problems, then the problem is different. Find out by following the link.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus
Many of you know it as a regular antivirus, even if it is part of . But this is not just an antivirus program, it is also a Firewall. Firewall is included in most modern versions of Kaspersky, from the regular version to the business version. This utility, unfortunately, slows down the system a little, but it reliably protects your device.Most others also include a firewall; you don’t have to limit yourself to the three options that we have given in this article. But there are situations when it is necessary to disable the Firewall; you will learn more about this in the following video:
- Useful programs for Windows 10
