How Secure is Windows XP's Firewall?

[wisdomwarrior23]

I have a network with a Windows 2000 Server and about 4 client machines running XP Professional. I don't yet have a firewall on the LAN, but wanted to find out how secure XP's built-in firewall is. It seems to work well, but should I rely on another solution for better security or is XP good enough.

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

My opinion is that it is as secure as swiss cheese has holes...

It only blocks incomming traffic, and even then there are ports open to the outside world to come in.

iSeriesCodePoet
iSeries Programmer/Lawson Software Administrator

See my progress to converting to linux.

http://koldark.hopto.org/linux/

The Programmer's Knowledge Base ->

http://koldark.hopto.org/twiki/bin/view/Programkb/WebHome

 

[bcastner]

If you are behind a router then the Windows fireall is sufficient. Not great, but it does unfairly get a bad rap in internet Forums.

I agree with iseriescodepoet that it does nothing if you have a trojan, LSP or virus that creates outbound traffic.

My only complaint about the Windows Firewall is that it is difficult to configure for most users.

As there are a lot of very good and tested freeware alternatives available to you, there is no practical reason to put up with XP's native firewall. The links for these programs are so easy to Google I will only offer freeware choices that I and others have found quite good:

. I use Kerio, but this may prove confusing for a standard user;

http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html

. Many swear by Zone Alarm, I have often sweared at it, but it is a fine product. You have to wade through the site to find the freeware version:

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/comparison.jsp?lid=home_za

. Sygate's Personal Firewall is very good:

http://www.sygate.com

. I am fond of Tiny:

http://www.tinysoftware.com/home/tiny2?la=EN

Any of these freeware choices are a better bet than the XP native firewall.