| 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 behaviour, 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.
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- Filters both inbound
and outbound communications between your computer
and the outside world
- Logs all connections
and connection attempts in the log file to review
later for security and auditing purposes
- Protects both dialup
or direct Internet connections, such as xDSL or
cable modems
- Filters 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
- Password protected
- Customizable start-up
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