# SPI Firewall, Is it enough?



## llmercll (Nov 13, 2008)

Hey all I'm just wondering if having my routers SPI firewall is enough protection for my network. I have a linksys router with dd-wrt flashed on it, and i hear that's very good firmware. I also have a wireless connection running with WPA2 security.

I just want to know if i should install another firewall program, or enable windows firewall.


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## mrss (Jun 13, 2007)

The router's NAT translation will block random outside attacks from seeing your PCs IP address. With SPI, the router looks at data for known patterns and discards data it thinks is bad. The WIndows firewall would block unsolicited incoming data that gets past the above. 

Neither do you much good if a program on your PC wants to send data out, i.e, if you got hacked or fooled into installing a trojan or virus. A router would let the data out and the XP firewall doesn't control outgoing data. 

So if you worry about outgoing data, a 3rd party software firewall is suggested.

One last opinion. The Vista firewall can be configured to block outgoing data, but doing so is not easy. That's a job for IT pro's, and many of them would probably just get a 3rd party firewall with host based intrusion protection (HIPS)..


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## lotuseclat79 (Sep 12, 2003)

Check these links out for test results/ratings of outgoing firewall blocking:

* Comodo inbound and outbound firewall leak tests
http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/testyourfirewall.html
Outbound test: Comodo Parent Injection Leak test: cpil.exe
Inbound test: Comodo HackerGuardian: HackerGuardian Free Scan

Firewallleaktester.com results: Mar 11, 2006: Jetico: 23/27 Adv+ rank #1
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests_overview.php
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php
http://www.firewallleaktester.com

* Firewalls Outbound application filtering vs Leaktests Win 2k/XP
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.htm (as of October 13, 2004)
http://kareldjag.over-blog.com/article-232553.html

I don't know if ZoneAlarm Free is still available. I used it with WinXP Pro SP2. This is a useful application for free if available. Look for a solution that has a light footprint in memory/CPU resource utilization.

-- Tom


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## atnskyline (Aug 7, 2008)

no its not, gety comdo firewall its free and rated the best


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## atnskyline (Aug 7, 2008)

zone alarm is ok but not as good


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## atnskyline (Aug 7, 2008)

those tests are out dated from o6


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## mrss (Jun 13, 2007)

atnskyline said:


> those tests are out dated from o6


The latest matousec ratings/test have bumped your Comodo 3.0 down to 8th position. Still rated very good.
http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php

As an indicator to how much has changed, the 2007 Matousec tests that had Comodo #1 were based on the Comodo 2.4 version. That version has fallen to #14 and is rated "poor" because the guy has created new tests it can't pass the new ones.

Does that mean the test is not real world or does it mean that trojans are getting so advanced at fooling conventional firewalls that we need new updates? Beats me. I think it's more of the latter.


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## atnskyline (Aug 7, 2008)

that is one source not all te magazines


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