Privatefirewall Now Free!

[MidnightCowboy]

Great News!

As promised, Techsupportalert is the first website on the planet to carry the
official announcement that the former commercial Privatefirewall is now freeware!

This excellent firewall achieves a 10+ Very Good rating on Matousec and I've used
it myself for some time without a single problem. I've yet to test this new version
but It's sure to have improved even further.

The only sad part of this news is that DSA (an integral part of Privatefirewall) will
now be discontinued as a standalone HIPS.

If anyone requires configuration guidance for Privatefirewall please post in the forum
and we'll help you.

http://www.privacyware.com/

Please note that the new version also supports Windows 7 RC1

[Taurus]

Thanks MC. Does PrivateFirewall Free have it's own hips component?

[Anupam]

So that's the news you had been dying to tell us MC? .
Thanks for the news .

The product looks good. Looking at the size of the download, which is just over 3 MB, I guess it will be a lightweight firewall, and that's good. The features look good too. Maybe will check it out soon .

[Taurus]

Answered my own question, behavior blocker technology. I'll give it a whirl myself.

[MidnightCowboy]

Yes, sworn to secrecy on the promise that TSA would be the first to carry the official news.

The HIPS component in Privatefirewall is DSA of course. In this new version they've added the choice to allow the firewall to make more automated decisions than before, or you can opt to answer the alerts individually. I prefer the latter because I like to see what rules are being set.

The training period has also been reduced to just 10 minutes in response to user demand against popups but this isn't the real way to go for optimized security. I've now replaced Outpost Pro with Privatefirewall set to one day for learning and I've not had any more popups than are easily manageable.

This firewall is so easy to set up and the protection level is excellent. The few leak tests at Matousec which it doesn't pass are only of any real consequence if you like leak tests! In the real world I used the previous version with a license for nearly two years and never had a single issue with it. I'm sure that a lot of people who switch over will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly their internet pages open with this firewall

I do wish they'd have changed the tray icon but life isn't perfect

[Taurus]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

The HIPS component in Privatefirewall is DSA of course. In this new version they've added the choice to allow the firewall to make more automated decisions than before, or you can opt to answer the alerts individually. I prefer the latter because I like to see what rules are being set.

Well that is good news. I installed DSA a couple of weeks ago and found it easy to deal with for a HIPS. It sounds light on the system. I'm looking forward to trying it out. Anything to be concerned about as far as uninstalling DSA?

Thanks

[wolfstr]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

Great News!

As promised, Techsupportalert is the first website on the planet to carry the
official announcement that the former commercial Privatefirewall is now freeware!

This excellent firewall achieves a 10+ Very Good rating on Matousec and I've used
it myself for some time without a single problem. I've yet to test this new version
but It's sure to have improved even further.

The only sad part of this news is that DSA (an integral part of Privatefirewall) will
now be discontinued as a standalone HIPS.

If anyone requires configuration guidance for Privatefirewall please post in the forum
and we'll help you.

http://www.privacyware.com/

Please note that the new version also supports Windows 7 RC1

Damn Cowboy...I had to register to this forum which I look through everyday even though was not a member, just to thank you for the alert for the new free Private firewall. I got it running as we speak and it's working great along with avast. Already ran it through all your firewall tests that you had posted and it passes ALL OF THEM with flying colors. Even passed the Gibson leak test who lot say is a bogus test, but strangely enough most firewalls pass it except for PC Tools firewall plus. But anyway, just want to let you that really like the new free Private firewall and thanks again.

[Anupam]

Atleast MC and his news pulled you into the forum. I hope many more are pulled into our forum like this, who just browse around as guests and do not register .

Welcome, and hope to see more posts from you .

Thanks for your post, and I have Avast too. That gives me some more confidence in the firewall.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by Taurus

Anything to be concerned about as far as uninstalling DSA?

Not really. If you use a third party uninstaller like Revo though I would only use it in "safe" mode just to remove the remote possibility that it might take out things with the old DSA settings which are also needed by something else. This can happen occasionally with Revo set to "advanced" although it doesn't affect all systems and network related apps tend to be the most susceptible when being removed.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by wolfstr

Damn Cowboy...I had to register to this forum which I look through everyday even though was not a member, just to thank you for the alert for the new free Private firewall. I got it running as we speak and it's working great along with avast. Already ran it through all your firewall tests that you had posted and it passes ALL OF THEM with flying colors. Even passed the Gibson leak test who lot say is a bogus test, but strangely enough most firewalls pass it except for PC Tools firewall plus. But anyway, just want to let you that really like the new free Private firewall and thanks again.

Great stuff - good to have you on board.

Once you get to know the firewall there will be a few things you might want to set to "block" via the "Main Menu" and "Applications". In the real world this might not make too much difference to your overall security but still the more apps with red crosses means the less chance of something creeping in or out. A right click on the individual applications will bring up a menu to "block" temporarily, but double clicking the same entry will bring up the individual rules which should all be set to "deny" for permanent blocking, or configured individually to suit your specific requirements (right click the rule and select "Modify" to change permissions). If you're not into network shares for files and printers then both the Main Menu settings for Internet Security and Network Security should be set to "High".

One of the other areas you might want to give some consideration to is via the "Help", "Privatefirewall Settings", Trusted Publishers. If there's anyone listed here you don't want given the freedom of your PC then you can just delete them from the list and Privatefirewall will supply an alert prompt to set a rule whenever their software is run. It's best to read the help topic on this first so you understand the implications of leaving them in or taking them out