"AliceZ" <AliceZ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1A96E465-10D8-4A3B-80D0-05FA04A2A2A2@microsoft.com...<span style="color:blue">
>I just bought a Toshbia A305 S6825 notebook with Vista Premium sp1 (which I
> was told had good security programs installed) and someone told me
> yesterday
> that the Firewall on Virsta Premium is not (very) effective. They
> suggested I
> should use the (new) ZA (which is about 45MB, so they say). They mentioned
> that they used "ShieldsUP" to test Vista Premium's Firewall and found a
> "ping" (don't know what that is!) got through.
>
> Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions about the Vista Home Premium's
> Firewall? Or is this just too "hi tech" for me to get worried about now
> since
> I just bought the new Toshiba with Vista Home Premium sp1 and since I am a
> novice at all of this? I am trying to learn so much, as soon as possible,
> which is a bit confusing and daunting</span>
Vista firewall is, by default, set to work on incoming only. It can be set
to protect on outgoing, also, but can be confusing to a new user. There is
some debate as to whether outgoing protection is even needed since incoming
should not allow any nasties to enter. But firewalls are not 100% effective,
no security is, of course. I like outgoing because I can see what or who is
asking to connect and what program is trying to phone home. The bad guys
come out with programs and viruses so fast it is hard for any security
company to keep ahead of them so we are never completely safe online. It is
a risk we all take just by connecting.
According to leak tests, only a few free firewalls pass, Online Armor (not
yet Vista Compatible) and Comodo Firewall Pro if you use the defense +
security in version 3 (see Scot's Newsletter) (compatible if you use the
latest version 3). The paid Zone Alarm passes, the free doesn't. Vista
built in firewall doesn't pass the leak test but is usually enough for a
home user, especially if you have a router. Any firewall, in training mode,
will ask if you want to let a program connect if it has outgoing protection.
http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2008/03/24...8-online-armor/
http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/index.htm
http://www.matousec.com/info/articles/intr...eak-testing.php
Sphinx Vista Firewall Control can be used to adjust the Vista Firewall for
both incoming and outgoing (outgoing lets you see if anything is trying to
phone home but you need to know if the phoning is good or bad). I am using
Comodo Firewall Pro free 3 (latest version) with AVG Antivirus (Avast and
Anitvir free are better but don't play well with Comodo on my system).
Comodo shows stealth on various test sites. I was using Kaspersky Internet
Security 7 but it had problems with Vista that were just too annoying so it
is working well on our WinXP computer.
I do not like Norton anything. Symantec is very intrusive and uses lots of
resources and memory. When I used it, our machine got infected several
times. It never got an infection with Kaspersky but, as stated, had
problems on this particular system. Do not run more than one AV at any
time. If you want a second opinion Trend Micro's Online House Call can scan
your system online and report any problems your installed AV may have
missed. There are also other online scanners, but I can't remember the
addresses. Maybe one of the MVPs can tell you.
Trend Micro also has a free root-kit scanner called rootkitbuster. Spyware
is a huge problem on the net and a good spyware program (such as Windows
Defender) should help. There are other spyware programs you can use to scan
as a second opinion. Hope this helps. Sorry for the long-windedness.