Do I need a firewall for internet banking?

justaquestion

Hi folks,


I have windows 10 and tried installing comodo free firewall, but says not compatible with windows 10.


As I use this partition for online banking only, would you consider windows 10 inbuilt firewall sufficient and secure enough?


Thank you for any help.

pappa_golf

why use that partition for banking , whats on your other partitions?

justaquestion

pappa_golf wrote: »

why use that partition for banking , whats on your other partitions?

An extra level of security, with an SSD its not a big deal to restart computer, maybe I am paranoid but I won't do internet banking on same partition as general browsing or won't use mobile banking atall.


But anyway would appreciate advice on whether windows firewall is sufficient for online banking

pappa_golf

in my opinion it is.


however why not choose a different OS that your firewall will work on if you are not happy?




PS: if you google that program and win 10 you will find there is a fixable fault with the installer file


watch youtube https://youtu.be/KYxjMYfQVX0

esuhl

If you have an OS set up just for internet banking, I'd probably use a GNU/Linux OS for extra security. Maybe even a live distribution so you don't retain any data from the OS when you reboot.

As for the firewall question, the chances are that you access the Internet via a router with a firmware SPI firewall built-in. This should be sufficient to protect you from unsolicited incoming traffic. I'd recommend disabling UPnP on your router's firewall for additional protection.

A software firewall is of most use to prevent installed programs from making outbound network connections. If you are only using the OS for banking and don't have unnecessary software installed and trust Microsoft to not be slurping up personal data against your wishes, then a software firewall probably isn't necessary.

wongataa

justaquestion wrote: »

Hi folks,


I have windows 10 and tried installing comodo free firewall, but says not compatible with windows 10.


As I use this partition for online banking only, would you consider windows 10 inbuilt firewall sufficient and secure enough?


Thank you for any help.

The built in Windows firewall is perfectly good. It works well and won't cause issues that third party ones can do. Unless you have a need for something that the Windows firewall can't do there is no need to replace it. The average user will not come up against any limitations of the Windows firewall.

I use Windows 10 to access internet banking with the Windows firewall enabled. There are no problems. To be honest most security issues with online banking are down to people being tricked into giving their login details to scammers. No firewall can protect you in that case.

AndyPix

^^ Agreed - good post by wongataa

justaquestion

Thanks a lot folks for all the very helpful replies. At the moment I am happily doing the banking with windows 10 firewall enabled.


Just in case I do decide to install a firewall is there anyone that you would recommend other than comodo? Seems there is not a great deal around, At least Comodo is a well known company, I must admit I have had problems with it in past on windows 7 that is why I changed to private firewall 7.0 from this company,


https://www.privacyware.com/personal_firewall.html


Seems to work fine on windows 7 but don't want to use it in 10, but as you all say I should be safe enough with windows 10 inbuilt firewall.


Thanks

esuhl

justaquestion wrote: »

Just in case I do decide to install a firewall is there anyone that you would recommend other than comodo? Seems there is not a great deal around, At least Comodo is a well known company, I must admit I have had problems with it in past on windows 7...

I've used Comodo for years. Some time back they implemented the absolutely insane Defense+ (which automatically opened firewall ports for software it found installed on your PC, essentially defeating the whole point of the firewall).

I think Defense+ became HIPS, which also monitors registry entries and system files and prompts you to accept or deny every potentially risky change. It's completely unmanageable -- there are far, far too many prompts which all require investigation to really know whether to allow or deny them.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, choose a custom installation and disable Defense+ and HIPS and immediately select "custom ruleset" (from the system tray icon), and you should have a reliable and easy-to-use firewall.

But the Windows firewall is probably fine too.

wongataa

justaquestion wrote: »

Just in case I do decide to install a firewall is there anyone that you would recommend other than comodo? Seems there is not a great deal around, At least Comodo is a well known company, I must admit I have had problems with it in past on windows 7 that is why I changed to private firewall 7.0 from this company,

Unless you hit a limitation of the Windows firewall don't bother using a different one as there is no point. It is unlikely that you will hit a limitation of the Windows built in firewall.

fiendishlyclever

For many of us a windows firewall is a second line of defence as we have one in our router which works on incoming connections. What are you hoping to achieve from using a firewall protection from incoming attacks or protection from Malware dialing out? As said earlier up the thread the latter is best provided by user education