[AccessD] OT: Comodo Firewall

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Thu Dec 27 19:47:32 CST 2007


I like the firewall.  The Active defense thing is a good idea if they can
make it useful but not too intrusive.  Comodo firewall is very highly rated
and free as opposed to Norton which sucks and costs a lot, every year. 


John W. Colby
Colby Consulting
www.ColbyConsulting.com 
-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of pcs at azizaz.com
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 8:40 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problemsolving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Comodo Firewall

Thanks for reply.... after I pressed the send button I googled Help on the
Active Defense thingie ... apparently the Purge option will delete file
entries from the Pending List for your Review for files that are no longer
on your system (temp files used during installation etc.) It was also
recommended to place the thingie in Learning mode for a couple of weeks and
then place it back to PC Clean.... I think I'll stick with the Comodo for a
little while longer... I like it when it pops up and says program B is
trying to use Program A do you allow it to do that? For example I have a
little app that came preinstalled on the laptop called PowerForPhone - never
used it - suddenly it was trying to get intimate with Skype... hmmmm...you
just don't know what's going on under the plastic cover....

What I would like to do next would be to get full clarity of all the
different processes running on the computer, and turn does off I have no use
for. Any application out there that can help me with that?

Happy new year!

Borge



---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:25:22 -0500
>From: "jwcolby" <jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com>
>Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Comodo Firewall
>To: "'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'" 
<accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
>
>In which case turn off the proactive defense thing.  IMHO
that part is not
>ready for prime time.  IIRC Comodo has several million
installed users and
>the majority have no problems but some of us do (me too).  
The Review /
>Pending thing is you telling Comodo that the files are OK,
you approve of
>them.  The huge number occurs as Comodo does the initial
scan of your
>system.  I think that there is a "select all" and you can
then "approve".
>Basically that is telling the Active Defense thingie that
these files are
>known to be good and stop worrying about them.
>
>I am not a security guru, I just use it.  My understanding
of the Active
>Defense thingie is that it is a monitor that does several
things.
>
>1) Watches what programs load and alerts you to any not on
the "OK list",
>those being possibly infections that slipped in some how.
>2) Watches running applications to see how they interact.  
Programs "use"
>each other all the time.  FoxFire "uses" quick time to
display or play
>something etc.  Supposedly you tell the Active monitor ONCE
that it is OK
>for program A to use program B.  If the interaction is not
in the OK list
>then you are warned that the interaction is happening.
>3) Watches that programs try to modify the registry.  This
is waay more
>common that I realized but occurs mostly at install and so
can signal that a
>nasty is installing itself, or that it is attempting to
disable another
>program (AV, firewall etc).
>
>So Active Defense is a program that sits in memory and
watches Windows do
>its job looking for signs of danger, keeping a list of
which things you say
>are OK and alerting you to things that you have not said is
OK.  These
>"Active Defense" programs are becoming more common as the
normal infection
>vector (email) becomes the least used vector.  Nowadays the
most common
>vector is malformed HTML, but that is certainly not the
only vector.
>Messenger, file sharing programs, Office documents (and now
access
>databases), PDF files, pictures, music, all of these things
have been used
>to spread infections and so an "anti nasty" system has to
do more than just
>scan email for viruses.  It pretty much has to watch
Windows DYNAMICALLY run
>and look for suspicious activities from moment to moment as
you use your
>computer.  Thus "Active protection" .
>
>Unfortunately by its very nature it is NOT unobtrusive.  
All it can hope to
>do is to keep track of things you say are ok and not ask
you about those
>things again.
>
>John W. Colby
>Colby Consulting
>www.ColbyConsulting.com
>-----Original Message-----
>From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
>[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of
pcs at azizaz.com
>Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 8:15 AM
>To: Access Developers discussion and problemsolving
>Subject: [AccessD] OT: Comodo Firewall
>
>
>John Colby recommended Comodo Firewall and I installed
it ...
>
>I have no time to read all the Help etc. 
>I had placed the Proactive Defence to PC Clean Now I have
over 7,000 files
>for review / Pending Files!!??
>
>What should I do?
>
>Apart from Purge?
>
>What does Move To.. My own safe files do? Does it
physically move the files?
>
>Remove ?  Does that mean remove from the list of Pending
Files? What good
>will that to, will the files just start accumulating again
for my
>review(?!).
>For sure Remove wouldn't mean remove from the System -
that's the Purge,
>right - not in the mood to test that one out %( .
>
>What is your recommended setting for this Proactive Defense
thing?
> 
>I don't roam the www wildly - I just want to install a
firewall and then for
>the most part forget about it...
>
>Confused,
>Borge
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