Firewalls Reviews

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Firewalls Reviews Reviewed
Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Firewalls Ratings Comments on Reviews
1. Matousec.com	Windows Personal Firewall Analysis David Matoušek and editors As of Jan. 2008		This fairly new organization tests firewall programs and sells the information to other publications. Matousec's tests are already so respected that we found that many reviewers either refer to Matousec's results or rely on them. Complete results are shown for 42 firewalls in the tests completed in November 2007. Products are ranked by their ability to prevent firewall leaks. Most of the software developers contribute responses. While the responses are predictable, you can weigh the technical challenges and form your own opinions. This is a tribute to Matousec's objectivity and quest for scientific knowledge.
2. Scot's Newsletter	Online Armor Firewall Shows Strong Promise Scot Finnie As of Jan. 2008		Scot Finnie (editor of Computerworld during business hours) also publishes this newsletter blog. Finnie has been testing firewalls for months to determine the best one. His many readers in computer-related fields contribute suggestions and criticisms. Finnie incorporates their contributions into his determinations. At press time, Finnie had narrowed his choices to two. His testing and review process are unequaled. He relies on Matousec.com for measurement of outbound security protection and evaluates all other considerations through lengthy personal use on several computers. Finnie's willingness to include expert feedback into his analysis distinguishes him from others.

Firewalls Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Firewalls Ratings Comments on Reviews

3. WebUser.co.uk	Product reviews > Software > Firewalls Andy Shaw As of Jan. 2008		U.K. computer magazine Web User regularly reviews security software and shows a bias in favor of free programs. Andy Shaw reviews three free firewalls in the July 2007 issue: Comodo Personal Firewall v3, Ashampoo Firewall Free 1.20 and PC Tools Firewall Plus 2.0. The reviews are brief, but testing is described, and results are revealed in some reviews. The magazine augments ratings with subcategory ratings for features, performance and ease of use. However, Shaw offers no other comparisons.
4. Columbia Daily Tribune	Evaluate software to greet new year Scott A. May Jan. 8, 2008		Computer consultant and writer Scott May claims he's sampled many firewalls in his quest for one that combines power with ease of use. He says the free version of Online Armor is much better than the free version of ZoneAlarm. He notes that it excelled in Matousec Security's tests. May says operation is similar to other firewalls, but the interface is written in plain English, which is unique. His review process and reasoning are good, but not as comprehensive as Scot Finnie's (see above). May believes that most users will be sufficiently protected with the free version, but a commercial version is available for those who need more protection.
5. Heise-Security.co.uk	Leopard with chinks in its armour: A second look at the Mac OS X Leopard firewall Jürgen Schmidt Oct. 29, 2007		German computer security firm Heise Security tests and analyzes the Mac OS X Leopard firewall. In a well-documented article, Jürgen Schmidt informs, "The Mac OS X Leopard firewall failed every test. It is not activated by default and, even when activated, it does not behave as expected. Network connections to non-authorized services can still be established and even under the most restrictive setting." Other than noting that even Vista's firewall is more effective, Schmidt fails to offer an alternative. This is the best of several similar reviews of the Leopard firewall, and Schmidt's findings are representative.

Firewalls Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Firewalls Ratings Comments on Reviews

6. Computerworld.com	New Vista firewall fails on outbound security Preston Gralla Feb. 7, 2007		This article is more of an explanation than a review of Windows Vista's firewall. Preston Gralla describes inadequate outbound filtering and then offers explanations from Microsoft product managers of why that is. Microsoft essentially admits this is a marketing strategy. It simplifies support for Microsoft's hardware partners (the computer manufacturers) and helps to create a market for Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare. Preston Gralla concludes that Vista users need to buy a firewall or security product with a firewall.
7. Bright Hub.com	Firewall Contributors to Bright Hub.com As of Jan. 2008		Bright Hub's slogan is "truth before commerce." The company's business model and website are confusing, however. Both Paul Pardi and Haresh Khemani review ZoneAlarm Pro, and Pardi reviews Norton Personal Firewall. Pardi's reviews are excellent in what they cover, which is everything but threat protection. Khemani's review is no more than a long user review. Pardi says Norton is "slow, overprotective, and overly complex," and he had installation problems. ZoneAlarm, he says, "ran with a very small memory footprint and performed admirably in my test." Pardi leaves readers with the vague impression that he wouldn't buy or use the program.
8. CyberTopCops.com	Firewall Reviews Coenraad de Beer As of Jan. 2008		Cyber Top Cops is a South African website devoted to Internet security education. Coenraad de Beer reviews the Lavasoft Personal Firewall and ZoneAlarm Free Edition firewall (in 2006). He also reviews the firewall components of the current versions of Kaspersky and AVG Internet security suites as parts of full reviews of both programs. The reviews are thorough and balanced. They cover aspects such as effect on computer performance and conflicts with other security programs, which are glaringly absent from too many other reviews. On the other hand, de Beer's reviews have their own glaring omission. He doesn't test the firewalls' susceptibility to attacks.
9. BetaNews	Firewalls Contributors to BetaNews FileForum As of Jan. 2008		This shareware site offers downloads and invites members to review products they have downloaded. Members review many freeware, shareware, beta and commercial demo firewalls. Although members specify which version they are reviewing, the average ratings are compiled from all versions, which weakens meaning. Among current products, the Comodo firewall has the highest average rating, but the new version was just released.
10. PC World >> Details/Subscribe	The 15 Best Downloads of the Year Preston Gralla Dec. 24, 2007		In this up-to-date article, veteran computer technology writer Preston Gralla recommends the best freeware and shareware applications issued during 2007. Many are new versions of existing programs, including one firewall, Comodo Firewall Pro. Gralla doesn't describe testing or personal use, but says Comodo is "a top-rated free firewall that's easy to use and configure." He doesn't compare it with other free firewalls, but does briefly compare it favorably with the stock XP and Vista firewalls. In a July article, "15 Great, Free Security Programs," Gralla recommends both Comodo and ZoneAlarm. Without comparing them, he acknowledges that Matousec rates Comodo higher.
11. PC Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	Firewalls Neil J. Rubenking As of Jan. 2008		PC Magazine's reviews are thorough, but somewhat dated. Comparisons are very good, and user-interaction issues are addressed. The magazine also tests the firewalls in most of the major Internet security suites. Except for a brand new review of Comodo Personal Firewall 3.0, however, the most recent reviews of standalone firewalls are of Outpost Firewall Pro 4 (version 6 is current) and Comodo Personal Firewall 2.0 in 2006. Neil Rubenking describes Comodo as the best free firewall, but he doesn't identify a better commercial alternative. Rubenking's 2004 assessment that the Windows XP firewall is not as robust as even a free third-party firewall is still valid, because the XP firewall hasn't been updated.

Firewalls Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Firewalls Ratings Comments on Reviews

12. Information Week >> Details/Subscribe	Safety First: 5 Firewalls for Your Desktop PC Serdar Yegulalp Aug. 16, 2006		Serdar Yegulalp compares the free ZoneAlarm firewall, Windows XP's built-in firewall with Norton Personal Firewall and the firewalls in three Internet security suites: McAfee, Trend Micro PC-cillin and ZoneAlarm. Yegulalp's testing is very good, but the results are considerably out-of-date. The suites have been replaced with 2007 and then 2008 versions. The article still has some value, because it highlights the relative capability of the Windows XP firewall relative to third-party alternatives and also speculates about the Vista firewall (not yet released at the time the article was published).
13. Firewall Leak Tester	Firewall leak test scoreboard Guillaume Kaddouch Mar. 11, 2006		Firewall Leak Tester performs leak tests using 16 popular personal firewall applications. The introduction and charts are too technical for most readers. The results strictly evaluate the technical performance of the programs. Features, setup, ease of use, interface, compatibility, price/value and other issues aren't mentioned or evaluated. This test is highly regarded by security experts, but it's also nearly two years old. The tested programs have been upgraded at least once, sold or discontinued. Kaddouch offers some excellent security advice on this site, however, as well as tools for professionals to use for testing.
14. BiosMagazine.co.uk	Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0 Christian Harris Jan. 2, 2008		In this single-product review, Christian Harris concludes that Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0 is "the best free firewall software available." Harris generally does a good job of identifying the best software, but the lack of comparisons with other free third-party firewalls means that the assessment lacks context. He does cite improvements over version 2, however, and notes that Comodo is an upgrade from an XP or Vista firewall. The high rating (8.5/10) causes us to wonder how Harris thinks Comodo ranks against a top commercial firewall. He doesn't say.
15. Personal Computer World >> Details/Subscribe	Firewall reviews Chris Wiles and Paul Rowlingson As of Jan. 2008		Personal Computer World regularly reviews security software and reviews four free firewalls in separate, very short articles in December 2007: Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0.14.276, Webroot Desktop Firewall 5.5.10.20, Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro 2008 6.0.2220 and Jetico Personal Firewall 2.0.1.2. Neither reviewer refers to any objective evaluation of effectiveness. Brief subjective evaluation of features and ease of use is not comparative. As all programs are rated 4 stars, this British magazine makes no distinctions. About all that readers can glean from these reviews is that downloading any of these programs is safe.
16. Macworld >> Details/Subscribe	Security Jeffery Battersby, Matt Vance As of Jan. 2008		Macworld reviews the OS X firewall, Norton Personal Firewall 3.0, DoorStop X and the DoorStop X Security Suite 2.0. Reviews of the OS and standalone firewalls date to 2006. Jeffery Battersby says that third-party firewalls are flashier than the integrated Mac OS X firewall, but he implies that the OS X firewall is equally effective -- or perhaps just effective enough. The reviews are not comparative, but each program has a different rating. In general, the reviews are a bit confusing and inconclusive. Testing is not described, and ratings are generous compared with other reviewers.
17. The Register.co.uk	Vista security overview: too little too late Thomas C. Greene Feb. 20, 2007		This comprehensive review of Vista's security enhancements includes brief coverage of its firewall. Thomas Greene says, "Third-party packet filters offer many more options in terms of notification and controlling individual applications." He concludes that Vista is a "slightly more secure version than XP SP2." The analysis is thorough, but the lack of performance testing diminishes its value.
18. Forbes >> Details/Subscribe	Dim Vista Stephen Manes Feb. 20, 2007		Forbes, the financial magazine, contributes one of many unflattering reviews of Windows Vista. Stephen Manes briefly covers its firewall. Without documentation, he asserts, "If malware somehow gets into your machine, Windows Firewall will not stop it from making outbound Internet connections to do its evil deeds." He lambastes Vista's security in general, but addresses the interface as much as protection, and he clearly does not have a scientifically derived opinion of Vista's security capabilities.
19. Top Ten Reviews.com	Personal Firewall Software Reviews 2008 Editors of TopTenReviews.com Not Dated		TopTenReviews.com rates and ranks seven firewall programs based on their features, ease of use, ease of installation, reliability and support functions. The reviews appear slanted and inconsistent. For example, the top-rated product earns a top score for ease of use (and everything else). To justify that, the reviewer turns a flaw into a virtue by saying, "It can be difficult to find which option to change due to the sheer multitude of options and features to contend with."
20. WebUser.co.uk	Windows Firewall Brad Jackson Updated May 26, 2005		This very brief review of the firewall included in Windows XP SP2 is surprisingly informative. Brad Jackson essentially says that this firewall is better than nothing, adding that it's unobtrusive and easy to use. Customization is too limited. The firewall performed adequately in testing. Jackson concludes, "We'd thoroughly recommend installing one of the more sophisticated firewalls instead." In newer reviews, Web User ranks several free firewalls higher than XP's firewall.
21. Computer Shopper	Software Labs: Personal firewalls Editors of Computer Shopper June 2006		Computer Shopper tests and rates Kerio Personal Firewall, Norton Personal Firewall 2006, Outpost Firewall Pro, BlackICE PC Protection 3.6 and the free version of ZoneAlarm in this very good, but now out-of-date roundup. A handful of Internet security suites are also reviewed. All of these reviews predate Vista, and a couple of the programs were acquired by other companies around that time. For those reasons, Computer Shopper's recommendations have minimal value, especially for Vista users.
22. SecureMac.com	Macintosh Firewalls Editors of SecureMac.com and Contributors As of Jan. 2008		SecureMac.com is "a site devoted to Apple Macintosh security and Mac OS X security." This site has an opposite point of view from Macworld, in that its purveyors believe security products are necessary for Macintosh systems. SecureMac reviews BrickHouse, NetBarrier X and Firewalk X. Programs are rated on a 5-point scale. Only Firewalk is rated less than 5, however, which is historically typical of SecureMac's firewall reviews. All the programs are described as excellent, and no flaws are mentioned. Note that none of these programs is Windows-compatible.

Firewalls Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Firewalls Ratings Comments on Reviews

23. PC World >> Details/Subscribe	Keep Yourself Safe When You Surf Preston Gralla Mar. 6, 2007		This article covers four security products, including the free Jetico Personal Firewall for Windows. Preston Gralla explains the limitation of the Windows XP firewall, but he describes Jetico, rather than endorsing it. He doesn't mention that other free firewalls are available or give another reason for using Jetico.
24. PC World >> Details/Subscribe	Straight Talk on Mac Security Risks Rebecca Freed Feb. 6, 2006		This dated article looks at whether Mac users are becoming more vulnerable to malware and hacker attacks. So far, there have been no "catastrophic" attacks on Macs, but Rebecca Freed writes that Mac users should be a little more alert to security issues anyway. Mac OS X has a built-in firewall that closes most ports by default, requiring users to enable ports for file or printer sharing. She also notes that this firewall needs to be turned on by the consumer. Freed tried the hardware firewall Little Snitch, but finds it annoying and too complex. Ironically, barely two weeks after this article was published, a new worm for Mac OS X was discovered.
25. Consumer Reports >> Details/Subscribe	Firewalls Editors of Consumer Reports Oct. 2007		Consumer Reports does not provide much in the way of help for those looking for a firewall. Products are not tested or recommended at all, but a laundry list of "popular products" is named. Some basic hints for choosing and setting up a firewall are given, but there's nothing here that can't be gleaned from many of the reviewers we rank higher. On the positive side, this article is available for all to read, not just subscribers.
26. The Washington Post >> Details/Subscribe	ZoneAlarm for Windows Vista Released Brian Krebs June 13, 2007		This is an opinionated informational article, not a review. Brian Krebs is very accurate, except in saying that third-party developers have abandoned firewall programs because of Vista. At the time of the article, Krebs was testing the ZoneAlarm Internet security suite (he generally considers suites to be "jacks-of-all-trades, master of none"). He describes an anecdotal reason to use the free firewall instead of the full suite. No recommendations are made.
27. Adware Report.com	Firewall Reviews Editors of AdwareReport.com Updated Dec. 12, 2006		This website is operated by Gooroo, Inc. Reviews are uneven, with top rated programs garnering the most attention. They are balanced and competent, but notably missing test data. In spite of some indications of affiliate marketing, reviews are satisfactory. The greater concern is that they are too old to have any current value. Many of the programs have been discontinued. Those that are still available are two versions removed from what AdwareReport reviewed, making them too dated to be of much use.