Norton Personal Firewall 2004

Norton Internet Personal Firewall from Symantec is meant for securing single computer systems. For users of its earlier version, the only new attraction is the network detector, which lets you define different firewall settings for each new network you use, such as home, office and away. It automatically applies the appropriate settings as you switch between networks. 

Other features in the new firewall are the same as the earlier one: personal firewall, intrusion detection, privacy control and ad blocking. So, while users of the earlier version of this firewall may not find it necessary to upgrade, users of other firewalls such as Win XP’s built-in ICF (Internet Connection Firewall) and Zone Alarm’s Free Personal Firewall might find it a worthy upgrade. Let’s see why.

The Personal Firewall provides IP address level and port level filtering of both incoming and outgoing data. The default Win XP’s ICF provides only inbound data filtering and that too only at the port level, and not source IP addresses. Zone Alarm firewall’s free edition provides bi-directional filters. It does not provide port level filtering but only IP host addresses. Also, Norton Personal Firewall uses a list of Trojan horse rules to block Trojan attacks. The list is automatically updated through live updates. Both ICF and Zone Alarm lack such a Trojan list.

The next component of Norton Firewall is intrusion detection, which detects most intrusion types such as port scans and blocks the attacking computer. The third component is privacy control, which prevents confidential information from being sent out from your system through e-mail, instant messengers, Web forms or office attachments. The fourth component is ad blocking, which blocks online advertisements and annoying pop ups. All these features are not present in ICF and Zone Alarm.

Norton Personal Firewall 2004 is a good switch over for ICF and Zone Alarm users, if they want to shell out some money. Existing Norton Personal Firewall 2003 users may not want to upgrade. Users with no firewall should seriously contemplate using a firewall if they connect to the Internet or any other network.

Anoop Mangla