Desktop Firewall AsaP

Last month we reviewed McAfee’s online virus-scanning software, which automatically updates itself everyday, when you switch on your machine. This is a firewall based on the same concept. You must subscribe to it online after which it installs on your PC from the Internet. It’s very lightweight and took less than 2 MB of system memory. The firewall has four security settings–high, medium, low and custom, which can be set as per the level of protection you need. There’s a trusting option in the firewall that allows known users to access shared files on your PC. It also gives comprehensive reports through a Web browser of all traffic passing through the firewall. 

These reports can be saved and zipped for later reference. Like the anti-virus service, the firewall also automatically updates itself saving users the hassles of doing so. Plus, other users on the network running the same firewall don’t have to update from the net. Instead, it does peer-to-peer updating over the LAN, making it much faster and trouble-free. Compared to other standard firewalls, this one is light and keeps the options limited and simple to avoid confusing the user. There is of course an advanced option that let’s a user manually configure the firewall.

Overall, a pretty good solution for networks and standalone desktops. 

Sanjay Majumder