Security Advice For Beginners - Don't Run A Firewall
One of my partners has put together a fairly comprehensive Beginners Guide To Securing A PC. However, Martin has one piece of advice which I don't personally think is a good tip for beginners. He argues that a software firewall gives a false sense of security, as trojans and worms can still exploit other vulnerabilities.
Although, I agree that this is true and that a properly patched machine could get away without running a firewall I think this is very dangerous advice to give to a computer novice. Yes, running a firewall isn't the only solution to going online safely but it's a big component in my view.
I've never risked running a computer without a firewall, although I was tempted in the past because of the resource drain, but now that I've got PC-cillin I'll never switch off my firewall. When I think about what could happen and how quickly it could happen, I would never take the risk.
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Comment by Anonymous on 4 December 2005:
I don't run a firewall, although I'm planning to get a hardware firewall soon. I don't see the purpose of a software firewall and can't think of a threat that it could reasonably defeat.
External threats should be dealt with by shutting down all non-essential services. Internal threats can defeat any software firewall. Thus what I always advise non-expert users to buy a nice hardware firewall integrated with their DSL modem. The cost is not that much more than a paid software firewall and the security is hugely better.
Comment by Anonymous on 24 February 2006:
i agree, a software firework is junk, as it is easily exploited and drains resources, but it is not useless.
I have a linksys router, and thats my firewall, but whenever i do banking/credit card online, i run a software firewall (ZoneAlarm pro), to close off my internet completely from all programs (except give firefox passkey).
This also closes my ~20 open ports (from port forwarding on router) for filesharing / games.
Verdict: get a router!