Is a McAfee personal firewall needed?

[Got Stripers]

With all the hoopla about this new virus, which I somehow avoided , but my wife has been going nuts trying to get rid of , I'm thinking about the $15 offer from McAfee to purchase their personal firewall. I updated today and they sent it to me. Aside from message boards, an occassional ICQ chat, I don't really frequent chat rooms and the like.

John whats the dope on this stuff, but don't talk Bill Gates, I need it in english...lol. I also have a somewhat slow Gateway Solo 9100, compared to what's out there now, so I don't want to bog down with stuff running in the background. In fact I've eliminated must of my stuff from the start up, even the McAfee virus . Never have it running so I don't know why I bothered to update, but I did a scan while I was out today and no infections luckily.

[JohnR]

Firewall or no firewall, a good, frequently updated ANTI-VIRUS software like Macafee or Norton is an absolute necessity. I have 300 machines running Norton's Corporate Edition which is updated nightly to be safe. Those anti-virus solutions, UPDATED FREQUENTLY (can't stress that enough) would prevent that virus and about 95% of the others. Some are so new that you can get them before the software co's have a fix/update...

What a firewall does is to create a barrier between your machine and the Internet that when properly configured, will permit only the traffic that you specify (like www, e-mail, ftp, real player) from going in and out through that barrier. If someone tried to "crack" your computer (technically, "hacking" means fixing/impoving software legally or illegaly and "cracking" is attempting malicious entry or damage to other's systems), a firewall should prevent entry from that cracker (hehehe)... Firewall's may have an additional anti-virus element that scans all in coming data for viruses but that is not the typical function of a firewall...

What does that all mean? Everyone that has a computer NEEDS frequently updated ANTI-VIRUS software. If you have a cable modem and only use your computer online sparingly, it's not a bad idea to get a firewall too. If you are online all of the time, a firewall is an absolute must.

Firewalls are not perfect, my firewall was still hacked a few months ago...

BTW - I don't like Bill Gates, I sure as heck hope I didn't sound like him :P

[Jaiem]

This current virus wave wouldn't be stopped by a firewall. Most firewalls are for keeping unwanted access out of a system and for tracking/controlling where outbound traffic is heading.

Totally agree about virus scans. I prefer Norton over McAfee. Had a bad experience with it. Maybe it's been much improved since but once burned...

[schoolie monster]

John, you don't sound like Bill Gates, but we sometimes confuse you with him because of the technical empire you are creating and the wealth in the bank and all.

Let me chime in and agree about the software. We use Norton also, but as these guys have said, its only as good as its most recent virus definition update. I have users that have machines at home and they have antivirus software and think they're safe, but they never update the virus definitions. I don't know about the retail version, but our Norton liscenses include a year's subscription to their LiveUpdate feature, which can be set to automatically update the definitions daily, weekly, or monthly. Trick is, you have to be online at the scheduled update for it to connect to the Symantec servers and download the new info. I don't think it can be configured to connect as soon as an internet connection is opened, but I could be wrong. We're always connected so I haven't explored that at all.

It only recognizes existing viruses, so it can be beaten, but Symantec gets on those pretty darn quick.

Most viruses come in emails as attachments. If you are ever unsure of the origin of an email and it has an .exe file attached, I'd trash it. Problem is, some of these viruses are sent unknowingly by people you do know. The "I Love You" virus replicated itself by going into Outlook address books and sending itself to all addresses listed.

As far as the hacking goes (or cracking), John is the network guru, I don't know much about firewalls, etc. That may be a bit over the top, but you are running a business and I don't know how much important stuff you may have on your machine.

And always back up your important data... as far as how often to back up. Look at it from the point of view of how much info are you comfortable losing. A virus can wipe you out, but so can a power surge (even thru a surge protector) or hardware failure.

Hope this contributed... later.

[Jaiem]

I'd also add that while a virus scanner linke Norton or McAfee can only recognize known viruses, a good can also monitor for virus-like activity. Some viruses try to access/update certain system files and libraries. A good scanner will monitor these files and warn of suspicious accesses.