[OneMoreTime]

I am hoping for some input on computer firewalls..whcih ones work and which to avoid..

Thanks
OMT

[grouch]

Dig an old dust collector computer out of your closet. Install a $10 network card in it. Install a minimal Linux system on the dust collector. Connect it to your ISP (dsl, cable, dial-up, doesn't matter). Connect your current computer to the network card in the dust collector. Breathe a sigh of relief. Well, ok, if you're running MS Windows you still have to watch out for Lookout macros, viruses in HTML email, viruses in images, etc. but your new Linux firewall can also employ various scanning daemons to intercept most of those. (Phishing attacks and other "social engineering" tactics are not OS-specific and I know of no software that can protect you from being tricked). With this proxy firewall in place, your computer will have one of the reserved, private IP addresses that cannot be mapped to the Internet. You won't become a zombie. It doesn't mean Internet Explorer won't happily run some unknown code from some maladjusted kid or greedy slime peddler. But your box will not be taken over and used as a spam relay or kiddie porn server without you knowing about it.

[Centerline]

I use industrial strength Norton and it seems to work pretty well for me.

[OneMoreTime]

Thanks .. are not computers fun..??

OMT

[grouch]

Originally Posted by OneMoreTime

Thanks .. are not computers fun..??

OMT

Sure they are, once you no longer have to worry about inadvertent mouse clicks crashing the system or destroying data, destructive email or attachments with malicious payloads, websites that can alter your "desktop" or change your browser or format your hard drive, service packs that wreck the system or install spyware and spamware, images that are not images but which the system automatically "opens" to allow the attacker inside. It's also fun when you use a system that treats _you_ as the owner instead of a criminal revenue generation unit to be exploited by every partner to the system's parent. (Sony's recent "rootkit" music CD is a good example). I'll never understand the appeal of the MS "activation" system, the appeal of 60,000+ viruses, the appeal of spyware concealed in service packs or the appeal of having a computer so bogged down by unauthorized adware that the ones who install such stuff have had to begin deleting each other's garbage just to keep from frustrating the user so much he/she turns the computer off in disgust.

"You get what you pay for" simply doesn't apply for operating systems. MS charges top dollar and delivers the worst there is. The ones that are completely free (price and freedom to alter, copy, distribute), from the BSDs to Linux, are the best available. Weird things happen when market forces are no longer allowed to work.