Three Firewalls

I'm currently running three firewalls. The XP firewall, Zonealarm
(free version) and the one in my ADSL modem/router.

Are there any disadvantages/advantages in doing this?

"Ken" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm currently running three firewalls. The XP firewall, Zonealarm
> (free version) and the one in my ADSL modem/router.
>
> Are there any disadvantages/advantages in doing this?

It pays to learn about them properly. You can set up a hundred firewalls but
if they are all allowing certain ports and data to pass through it's
irrelevant how many you have. It's like having 20 locks on your door and
leaving it on the latch.

I like to have a software firewall in additon to hardware myself as I like
to catch programs attempting to make connections. However, I am no expert
and I'm sure there will be some deep answers to come

Ken wrote:
> I'm currently running three firewalls. The XP firewall, Zonealarm
> (free version) and the one in my ADSL modem/router.
>
> Are there any disadvantages/advantages in doing this?

For what it's worth I would say switch off the XP firewall & configure the
Zonealarm properly to cover all eventualities (the most important thing is
to turn of any sort of automatic rule creation & make it all manual that way
you control what's allowed in or out & not a program running arbitrary,
generalised rules).

The reasoning behind switching off the XP firewall is because of the brand.
It is a prime target for all wanabe hackers due to the company which
supplies it....

On Thursday, in article
<42d6a799$0$27224$(E-Mail Removed)>
kraftee@spamoff&die "kraftee" wrote:

> Ken wrote:
> > I'm currently running three firewalls. The XP firewall, Zonealarm
> > (free version) and the one in my ADSL modem/router.
> >
> > Are there any disadvantages/advantages in doing this?
>
> For what it's worth I would say switch off the XP firewall & configure the
> Zonealarm properly to cover all eventualities (the most important thing is
> to turn of any sort of automatic rule creation & make it all manual that way
> you control what's allowed in or out & not a program running arbitrary,
> generalised rules).
>
> The reasoning behind switching off the XP firewall is because of the brand.
> It is a prime target for all wanabe hackers due to the company which
> supplies it....

Unfortunately, Zone Alarm is common enough to have been cracked by the
bad guys. Keeping it up-to-date will help. Other software firewalls
with similar features are available.

But it does things, because it's running on the computer, that a
hardware firewall cannot. Unfortunately, the XP firewall doesn't do
them either.


--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.

"I am Number Two," said Penfold. "You are Number Six."