Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro
We have mentioned on many occasions the necessity of having a firewall, particularly if you have a broadband connection to the Internet. We recently got a recommendation from Nick Bolton, creator of the highly recommended MailWasher (http://www.lubrinco.com/ejournal/ej200206.pdf, http://www.lubrinco.com/ejournal/ej200305.pdf) and Benign (http://www.lubrinco.com/ejournal/ej200309.pdf), for Outpost Firewall Pro from Agnitum (http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/).
Outpost has all three of the qualities that we think make for a good firewall.
• It is effective. Agnitum notes that “Outpost filters all the network activity on
your system and makes sure no dangerous data enters or leaves your PC.”
• When installed by the naïve user it is simple to use. It can pre-configure itself for many applications – and this should be your choice unless you are a sophisticated user – and when new applications try to access the Internet it gives you simple guidance. Agnitum notes that Outpost automatically blocks spyware, cookies, and referrers that trace your surfing habits, as well as online advertisements, and that it repels all known types of hacker attacks, and protects from mail worms and viruses and blocks Trojans. There is a quick-start manual for the beginner at http://www.agnitum.com/download/Outpost_Pro_Getting_Started_(ENG).pdf.
• For the sophisticated user, Outpost allows significant control and oversight, and includes a host of useful features that can be implemented, or not, depending on your needs. There is an in-depth, detailed manual at http://www.agnitum.com/download/Outpost_Pro_User_Guide_(ENG).pdf. There is a support forum at http://www.outpostfirewall.com/forum/. And a guide to producing a secure configuration for Outpost, written and maintained by one of the forum moderators, at http://www.outpostfirewall.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2404
The one oversight we noticed was that in Version 2.5 we couldn’t make Benign work. The problem was fixed at the advice of the Firetrust folks: To get Benign working with Outpost 2.5, under default policy setting of ‘Rules Wizard’ mode click Options >> System >> LAN Settings >> add ‘127.98.9.*’ as a trusted IP. This will make sense if you need it..ÆGIS,
The price for a single home user is a modest $39.95, and there are various family and small-business plans, with a 25-user license going for $800. We assume there are appropriate corporate discounts. If you already have a firewall, they will give you a fifty percent discount to migrate!
If you are looking for a firewall, Outpost merits your serious consideration.
