McAfee Firewall by McAfee

Description

Whether you connect to the Internet by using a modem or network card, McAfee Firewall offers a safe and secure personal firewall for your personal computer. Designed to let you monitor all incoming and outgoing network traffic with minimal fuss, this unobtrusive and simple-to-use utility can guarantee the safety of your system, especially now that more users are connecting to the Internet around the clock with DSL and cable modems.

McAfee Firewall sits between your system and the Internet. After installation, you can answer a wizard-guided “interview” that configures your firewall's behavior, along with the programs that will be permitted to work on the Web. Better yet, as individual applications attempt to access the network, the McAfee Firewall will prompt you without interrupting your normal work. After an ordinary session of computer use, this utility had discovered our browser, mail client, and FTP utility, and we weren't bothered with any more warning messages.

Behind the scenes, McAfee Firewall logs every attempt at network access, and saves the last 100 messages. By using its console-like utility, you can view network activity for every program that's running currently. This application gives you fine-grained control of protocols besides basic TCP/IP, with such acronyms as ARP, DCHP, ICMP, NetBIOS, RIP, and PPTP. Although you might not have heard of them, several of these protocols can be used in denial-of-service and other kinds of attacks.

A handy online help page documents the well-known types of security threats. (Chances are that you'll be surprised at the variety of ways there are to disrupt your system.) Don't worry, however; by checking the “Log Unknown Traffic” option in McAfee Firewall and regularly reviewing your log, you can detect any suspicious activity. In all, this low-cost utility can deliver peace of mind and solid security in an application that doesn't get in the way of your everyday Web browsing. –Rich Dragan

Platforms

Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 95

Product Features

• Total Protection for Your PC
• Your Defense Against Hacker Attacks!!

Editorial Review

McAfee Firewall protects and defends your system, filtering both inbound and outbound communications between your computer and the outside world. Log all connections and connection attempts in the log file and review it later for security and auditing purposes. Protect both dialup or direct Internet connections, such as xDSL or cable modem. Filter all applications, system services, and protocols, including file and printer shares (i.e. NetBIOS); IP protocols (i.e. TCP/IP, UDP/IP); service-based protocols (i.e. FTP, Telnet); ARP/RARP; and DHCP. Additionally, it blocks IPX and NetBEUI on a per-device basis.