Automated firewall

[Zirax]

Does anyone know of a granddad friendly firewall? What I mean by this is a free firewall that does not involve pop ups. Commodo and Zonealarm both do this. For example if firefox auto updates, both generate a new "confirm to access the net" as the .exe file has changed.

Really I am after something to run in the background that will not pop up unless there is something incoming. If it does pop up then it will cause him to call my uncle (who also isn't great) and together they'll pull their hair out. Any ideas?

[Feek]

Isn't it possible to set them up to allow everything outgoing and only block incoming? Then you wouldn't have this issue. I don't know this, I'm just speculating before I go to bed. Which is now. Nighty night.

[Mark]

Yes, but then again the Windows firewall can do that too. Only real reason for getting a personal firewall is either because you don't trust the Windows one (which is of course fair enough) or you want more/easier control (configuring the Windows firewall can be a pain).

[Zirax]

Hmmm, might be worth considering going back to the windows one then. Whenever it is online it will be behind a hardware firewall (router) so I could just be being paranoid.

So if I set up ad-block on firefox, combine it with a hosts file and use spybot to stop IE that should do the trick.

[kaiowas]

Ever since I've been on broadband (which is quite a few years now) I've been behind a router and I've never run any kind of firewall on the individual PCs. Never had any issues with that setup.

[Mark]

Hmmm, might be worth considering going back to the windows one then. Whenever it is online it will be behind a hardware firewall (router) so I could just be being paranoid.

Yes. A router will stop almost everything provided you secure it properly (passwords on admin and wi-fi, no external admin access, and no use of open ports/DMZ without understanding the consequences). That just leaves things that get in by deliberate user act (emails, hacked web pages, etc.).

So if I set up ad-block on firefox, combine it with a hosts file and use spybot to stop IE that should do the trick.

Don't forget the email client if you use one. Otherwise, yes.

[Feek]

Whenever it is online it will be behind a hardware firewall (router) so I could just be being paranoid.

Yes, I think you are. I've never used a software firewall when a PC is behind a router and I've never had anything reach a PC which shouldn't.

[Burble]

Just to offer a different view, I still keep firewalls on my Windows (and OS X) boxes so that I can control what the OS and programs are doing and to prevent them phoning home unless I want to.

Though I accept that isn't practical for what Z is trying to achieve.

[Mark]

I used to do that (ZoneAlarm), but the subscription expired and I realised there wasn't much I'd ever blocked, so I cancelled it.

[divine]

I've found a software firewall very useful once which was in noticing my sister had managed to infect the PC with something as ZoneAlarm appeared moaning about the 3000 emails I was apparently trying to send. :p

[Zirax]

Yes, I think you are. I've never used a software firewall when a PC is behind a router and I've never had anything reach a PC which shouldn't.

Agreed, fair enough.

Just to offer a different view, I still keep firewalls on my Windows (and OS X) boxes so that I can control what the OS and programs are doing and to prevent them phoning home unless I want to.

Though I accept that isn't practical for what Z is trying to achieve.

This is what I do on my boxes at home in that I want to know everything that tries to phone home or get access to the net. I just installed it on his machine without thinking if it was required.