GlassWire – GlassWire is a network monitoring software as well as a firewall and is free to use. This package is installed on Windows 7, 8 and 10. Although this software would be ideal for a small business network, it is also available for home use. The firewall can be configured with multiple profiles to behave differently in each scenario. For example, you might have a home network and public wifi profile setup.
In addition to blocking incoming connections, the package lets you monitor bandwidth usage by throttling some applications to make more bandwidth accessible for key applications. Traffic management functions are reduced to a port number, program and process.
The monitor is always on and tracks all activities on your computer, looking for something suspicious. Like TinyWall, GlassWire’s firewall features are really just a native Windows Defender management interface.
Private firewall – Privatefirewall is a product of the privacy software. The company’s characteristic product is ThreatSentry, a security system designed for business networks. The company is no longer interested in Privatefirewall and doesn’t even mention the product on its own website. However, you can download it for free from software distributors such as CNet and Softpedia. The program will run on Windows from XP to 8.1 – no version for Windows 10.
In addition to being a firewall, this utility is based on a host intrusion detection system. It examines log files on your computer to look for alarm events. It will also protect these log files from unauthorized modification or deletion, which is a trick to cover the tracking that some malware uses.
The regular firewall features of this package include whitelisting and blacklisting features, as well as content privacy controls, such as turning off text copy and buffer monitoring. The firewall interface is a context menu that you activate by right-clicking the program icon in the system tray.
The tool will also monitor email activity, disable infected or prohibited websites from loading, and block internet activity from a specified address.
Network security system Software
OpenDNS homepage – OpenDNS is a business network security system that also has a free home version. This firewall covers all internet-enabled devices in your home, including DVRs and smart TVs, computers, tablets and smartphones. It is a great choice for families because it involves parental control.
This system is cloud-based, so you don’t need to install any software. Instead, the service changes the settings of your router to channel all your internet traffic through the OpenDNS server. This is what the industry calls “end service” and will also protect you from other hacking activities, such as DDoS attacks.
Do I need a third-party firewall?
Companies religiously install firewalls to protect their resources from attack (see Top Web Application Firewalls), but the general public is not interested in this form of protection. A big reason for this complacency is that security is often built into devices.
At home, wifi routers offer Internet firewall protection in the form of a hardware firewall. But the advent of Trojans means that this inbound request block is no longer sufficient; The Trojans will open the outbound links back to the base and invite other viruses.
Popular operating systems often come with their own software firewall, such as Windows Defender in newer versions of Windows. However, this is a rudimentary firewall that can do with many more options that you get with other firewalls.
Note that if you have firewalls built into your router or operating system, you must make sure that they are activated. A disabled firewall is as useless as not having one at all.