Personal Firewalls
Personal Firewalls prevent unsolicited network entry to private networks by computer criminals. Only network responses that have been explicitly requested by the personal computer user will be permitted past the firewall (example: when a personal computer user requests a web page in their browser, only that web page response will be permitted to enter the corporate network from the Internet through the firewall; web pages not expressly requested by that user, which might have been transmitted by a computer criminal from the Internet, will not be able to enter that company's network through its firewall).
|
|
Personal Firewalls only operate on an individual personal computer, each computer requiring its own copy of the firewall software. Personal Firewalls are engineered to secure Internet access from home or a laptop while traveling, or where a separate firewall device might be impractical. For corporate networks, Personal Firewalls might not be feasible because:
they address the security needs of the individual PC, but not other network devices such as printers and servers;
site licensing the software for each PC in a sizeable company might be cost prohibitive;
they tend to make your overall PC software run slower since they are sharing the CPU of a PC with other software that a user might employ; and
Some versions of personal firewalls cannot be centrally managed.
Nevertheless, for the home office or traveling worker, they are indispensable. SecurityAppraisers® installs and maintains the following Personal Firewalls:
| Product | Manufacturer | List Price |
| CA Personal Firewall |  |
$40 |
| ZoneAlarm Pro |  |
$49.95 |
your individual requirements should be the most important factor in choosing a product.
"Why are these products priced differently?
Should I buy the cheapest one?"
The difference in prices depend on a number of factors:
- Ease of installation;
- Ease of troubleshooting;
- Number of Internet software standards the firewall can handle (How many does your company need to handle?);
- Availability of updates for new Internet software standards, and whether there are ongoing fees for updates;
- Issues associated with tech support:
- Amount of tech support bundled with the product;
- Availability of tech support; whether it is around the clock;
- Amount of time a manufacturer usually needs to resolve a problem;
- Manufacturer's ability to work with end users; and
- Amount of lab and field-testing that has gone into a product (a newer product might have a bug which the manufacturer's lab-testing did not detect).
Keep in mind:
Price is not necessarily proportional to quality!
- If a manufacturer sells many units, it can take advantage of an 'economy of scale' and pass on the savings to you.
- A manufacturer will sometimes undercut its competitor(s) in price to gain market share.
"Shouldn't I just buy the one that was 'Editor's Choice' in … magazine?"
There are a number of factors that determine whether a product is suited for your company. An "Editor's Choice" award weights these factors according to what the editors guestimate is needed by the largest number of businesses. What most businesses need may not necessarily match your company's needs.
"Is a Firewall all I need to implement computer security?"
No. A Firewall alone does not constitute a complete computer security program; it is a vital cornerstone of a security plan, which should also include Content Inspection, Proactive Security Monitoring, Software Security Updates and Security Policy Enforcement, Security Tokens, Virus Scanning, and Secure Network Protocols. Confer with the other sections of this web site to learn about these security techniques.
"I read that some Firewalls listed here previously had a security problem (which has since been fixed). Why should I even consider using any that had these problems?"
Generally, the more popular a Firewall is, the more likely hackers will exploit it. Consequently, vulnerabilities found in a Firewall product, and subsequently fixed, do not necessarily indicate the level of security that the Firewall currently affords. Rather, an important consideration is the speed and consistency with which the Firewall manufacturer addresses these incidents as they occur. SecurityAppraisers® has assisted manufacturers in identifying holes in their products, and has implemented updates for their customers.