Just a follow up on this thread... I did my own little test of this theory
and found the Jean is correct regarding the Trojan threat. The dynamic test
that I suggested was not an endorsement for either firewall, indeed, two
separate firewall programs, in my personal opinion would be "overkill."
However, several different security programs are not. Although a software
firewall makes good common sense, many other threats not recognized by them
can be blocked by antivirus, spyware,ad blocking, and spam blocking
programs, and even then some have gotten through. Many people will run an AV
on their incoming E Mail, but disable outgoing E Mail protection to speed up
the process of sending it, and I believe this practice is a mistake.
I have 3 machines connected via a broadband router, "hardware firewall" and
was spared the agony of the Blaster virus, but I have serviced a few
machines that were not protected. Additionally, When my subscription for the
last version of Norton AV expired, I purchased Norton AV Pro and noticed
that they have added a few more features to their line up to address many
(but not all) of these issues.
Sorry for rambling on like this but back to the point... too much of
anything can be detrimental, however a lot of many different things seems to
enhance the "internet experience." Realistically, that is the reason we are
all here.
Thanks for the feedback, and hope mine helps some.
Happy Holidays to all!
Dean Kiley

----- Original Message -----
From: "JMB" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [PCSOFT] Firewall: XP vs ZA


> Emie wrote:
>
> > A customer with P4 2.4GHz system has both Zone Alarm and WinXP/Home
> > firewalls activated.  He's experiencing problems with his Internet
> > activities (typical when ZA blocks incoming signal from accessing his
> > System.)  > >
> > Emie DelRosario
> >
> >While Dean Kelly's answer was great (the customer assists with
> determining which FW is better) there is something missing with the
> XPFW. Yes, it blocks inbounds but it cannot block an outbound. If a
> trojan got in, the XPFW has no features to prevent it from sending
> something out, whereas ZA is designed to prevent an outbound unless it
> is already identified by you as being authorized or it pops up a message
> window stating that "'trojan 123.exe' is trying to access the internet.
> Do you grant access?" Then the customer will know that something illegal
> is trying to transmit out into the net. Most likely, there is a conflict
>   occurring with both FWs active, but according to all of the write-ups
> I've read, it is recommended to turn off the XP FW if you have ZA.
>
> Just my 2 cents.
>
> Jean Bourvic

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