A little armour never hurts
Written: Feb 04 '00 (Updated Mar 25 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The classic software firewall - great protection.
Cons: Too technical - easy to make mistakes.
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| the.knight's Full Review: ConSeal PC Firewall |
I have found it necessary to edit and change this opinion a little following my discovery of a newer, better alternative. No, not the turn off the computer and do something more constructive instead alternative. I mean another firewall that addresses the one weakness of most good firewall software.
That weakness is very much visible to new users of the conseal firewall - it is complex. The rule-set is hard to follow at all, and even those who would consider themselves very competent at using their PC will often find they do something that blocks their own access as surely as it blocks that of others.
What a firewall is
A firewall examines the flow of data 'packets' coming both into and out from your computer. It acts as a kind of electronic barrier checking the permits of every electron immigrant and emigrant. The best firewalls of all are hardware devices that literally connect between your computer and its connection to the outside world. However home users needed something a little less expensive and serious, that still protected them from the hacker-wannabes. Thus software firewalls.
There are many software firewalls available now, mostly seeking to emulate the success of Conseal (Signal9.com). However, Conseal is the one that was traditionally chosen by the 'Haxors' and junior Crackers, because it was the most effective. Naturally most of those chose to seek to crack the software rather than purchase it, but it was well worth its price.
The Conseal PC Firewall.
This software, available in several versions, simply monitors all incoming and outgoing data, warning and blocking according to the rules that have been set. The default ruleset will block many trojans, most nukes, and also prevent other unwanted connections / intrusions. You can also generate new rules, either as an addition or from scratch should you wish to.
For any but the technophiles among us this is not the easiest or friendliest of software. There are competitors that are far more user-friendly, but conseal is one that actually works and works well. The protection it offers is far better than that given by almost all competitors. I still don't believe any software firewall is more protective.
If its not easy to use, it is still worthwhile to persevere. This is an effective means to stop over 90% of the things that could be sent to you to totally ruin your computer. If you use any form of Chat or messaging you will need a firewall sometime. It is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
That weakness in the friendliness is a serious one however. Human error can undo the benefits of any protection yet invented. Human error is certainly easy with this firewall. There is an excellent new-player in this market that beats Conseal in two major factors and rivals it on its strongest benefit.
A better option to consider.
The ZoneAlarm 2.0 firewall beats the price of Conseal because it is freeware. It rivals Conseal on actual strength of security, I ran a series of tests and found ZoneAlarm 2.0 every bit as protective as the conseal firewall. Believe me, I didn't expect to. Finally, since using the ZoneAlarm 2.0 firewall is incredibly easy, and still comes with detailed and plain language help, it is far more user friendly. Since that eliminates the main risks of human error I have to conclude that in real terms Conceal is no longer the safest and best firewall.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
the.knight
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Member: Black Knight
Location: London, England
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 49 members
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