Firewalls - are they really needed?

[Deleted User]

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Absolutely. But again, the programmers will update the firewalls as and when they find these malicious programs exist (or at least to the best of their abilities) to try to prevent such problems

Nothing ANYONE says is going to sway me on this.

Computers ARE 'safer' (read ~ not COMPLETELY safe) with a decent software firewall. Everything else is subjective.

To some extent I agree but then I think what's the point. If I've no way of knowing if the outbound firewall is catching what I hope it will catch then I've little faith. The more I read the more I think the performance hit and overall overhead just isn't worth it. I may as well keep on with the anti-virus scans, anti-spyware scans and anti-malware scans and being generally computer savy while browsing / downloading from the big bad Internet...

As the technet article says,

There’s an important axiom of security that you must understand: protection belongs on the asset you want to protect, not on the thing you’re trying to protect against.

jasonwatkins

I personally don't use any virus/malware/spyware software or anything like that, but I do use ZA, but more out of habit than anything.

Although I must admit to considering the XP SP3 firewall as I had zero trouble when I used Vista's built in one.

aliEnRIK

David.
The fact is this. IF you had an unknown keylogger on your machine that none of your security devices knew about. It would call outwards, and youd be none the wiser as it doesnt even have to disable your firewall. Your fantastic built in Xp will HAPPILY let the information be sent out.

If we take a very basic question now ~
Is an outbound firewall safer than a NONE outbound? The answer is a no brainer...........

[Deleted User]

aliEnRIK wrote: »

David.
The fact is this. IF you had an unknown keylogger on your machine that none of your security devices knew about. It would call outwards, and youd be none the wiser as it doesnt even have to disable your firewall. Your fantastic built in Xp will HAPPILY let the information be sent out.

If we take a very basic question now ~
Is an outbound firewall safer than a NONE outbound? The answer is a no brainer...........

You sure do love your keyloggers

We're getting down to probabilites and how likely this is for each person and their surfing habits. I don't doubt outbound firewalls have some uses, maybe more so to make people feel safer but I'm still not swayed, yet, to re-install one and incur the additional costs and hassle of having one installed - these can be numerous depending on which and what setup you have...

aliEnRIK

Even if its only by a tiny fraction, which is safer? A firewall that prevents outbound, or one that doesnt? (right down to basics)

Cmon dave. You KNOW the answer deep down

[Deleted User]

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Even if its only by a tiny fraction, which is safer? A firewall that prevents outbound, or one that doesnt? (right down to basics)

Cmon dave. You KNOW the answer deep down

After years of having one and now not having one I just don't see the point. After reading, then re-reading the original articles I'm still thinking the makers of outbound firewalls are using more scaremongering tactics and rather than proving they're a neccesaty when I rebuild the laptop and think right, what are the steps I need to take to get this system up to scratch to face the big bad Internet.

jasonwatkins

loaner wrote: »

Jason, you like living dangerously?

haha .. not really, no. I just don't have any problems with any of that stuff so i don't find it necessary. I might do a trend micro housecall once or twice a year, but that's about it.

jasonwatkins

loaner wrote: »

You could have problems you don't know about, and Trend may not find them after the event.

Nah, i'm quite clean (so to speak ).

I've been online for long enough, and worked in I.T. for long enough, to know my way around t'interweb.

And besides, I tend to re-format my PC more than I scan for viruses

jasonwatkins

loaner wrote: »

if you are happy with the risk.

i don't consider it a risk.

i've been online for the best part of 12-13 years and i've only ever had one virus issue about 10 years ago when i was caught out by an MSN trojan sent through a friend's account.

So i must be doing something right ..

aliEnRIK

jasonwatkins wrote: »

i don't consider it a risk.

i've been online for the best part of 12-13 years and i've only ever had one virus issue about 10 years ago when i was caught out by an MSN trojan sent through a friend's account.

So i must be doing something right ..

haha

That happened to me too. Though I had been working nighshifts and i was unbelievably tired.