[quke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallijonn quke, Tell me more about the latest Kerio. I think mine has been updated to 1.6. (4.0.16)

Kerio 2.1.5 is the older version. I think the version 4.x is actually their first own software and the old 2.x series were just tweaked versions of some other software firewall. Don't take it at my word though.

What I look from a sw firewall is a simple packet handling, low resource usage, and most of all as little interference to everyday computer using as possible. I'm afraid Kerio 4 screwed up on these. It's heavier on resources, very buggy (in version 4.0.4 or so), it's got that annoying bells and whistles kind of UI design. In a word it's bloated. I know my experience with the thingie is back from the end of 2003 but I seriously doubt they've revamped it to anything like the excellent 2.1.5. Simplicity is the way to go in certain software.

 

[luukas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by quke Kerio 2.1.5 is the older version. I think the version 4.x is actually their first own software and the old 2.x series were just tweaked versions of some other software firewall. Don't take it at my word though.

That is correct, the 2.x Kerio was based on Tiny Personal Firewall.

 

[geek42]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luukas That is correct, the 2.x Kerio was based on Tiny Personal Firewall.

Yup... Basic secure setups:

WinXP/2000: Firewall (2.x Kerio, Zonealarm are both good), Anti-Virus (i've had good luck with norton, but friends run AVG with no problem. One thing to be aware of is that free definitions are always available from Norton, it's the program auto-updates that go away when your subscription expires). Anti-Spy/Adware software (Ad-Aware is reputed to work well. Spybot does work well from personal experience and is free).

Linux: Set up a decent firewall of some kind (I use IPChains, which is not the most user friendly, but it's pretty easy to thoroughly lock down a box with it. Use nmap to check for open ports, and adjust accordingly).

Hardware: A nat/firewall that's hardware based is nice, but not a necessity if you've got a secure software setup. Of the various firewall types, the kind provided on consumer level routers (linksys, d-link, etc) are pretty basic. NAT is pretty easy to overcome. A nice 1st wall of defense, but I don't use one, and haven't had any problems. I would only use one if you're using multiple computers over one broadband connection, or if you're unsure about software setups (I'm _always_ unsure about the security of Windows setups).

A couple of side notes -
1.)if you're concerned with security, Wi-Fi is not for you. If you do use it, make sure to use an encryption protocol with a good pass phrase. In terms of general security, it's basically impossible to lock down a consumer level Wi-Fi setup. So if you can use wires, do.
2.) For god sake, use Firefox - it's a million times more secure than IE, and exploits don't come out every other day for it. As an added bonus you get tabbed browsing, neat extensions, it's less resource intensiive than IE, and it's faster to load/display pages.

BTW - a nice book on Linux is "Linux in a Nutshell", from O'Reilly publishers. I've had really good luck with their books, but beware, if the title doesn't say it's for beginners, (ie the learning or 'nutshell' series) they're not, so don't get something like 'Advanced Linux System Administration', don't be surprised if you don't get it (I sure as heck didn't). Many book previews are available through safari.oreilly.com , so you can get a feel for content before you buy. Computer books are usually pretty cheap through Amazon's used section. Also, if you're at a university, they may have some of the OReilly books available in full online - my school provides a lot of its tech books in full, which is really nice. Contact your friendly local systems admins to find out if this is the case (the library probably won't know).

That's all I've got.

 

[Angelic]

Kasperky Lab Anti-Intivirus Personal
As firewall I use Port Monster standard edition + Kaspersky Anti - Hacker.