The Sunbelt Personal Firewall helps control how computers share information with other computers through the Internet or a local network. It also protects computers from external or internal attacks from other computers. The Personal Firewall is especially useful for laptop computers since they are easier to compromise because of built-in wireless access.
Basically, a firewall is a program that protects one computer from other computers. It examines information that tries to enter a computer from an outside source (i.e. the internet), and determines if the information is safe or harmful.
Known Issues/Limitations
Due to the drivers not being signed by Microsoft, you will notice an alert from Windows regarding the driver being installed. Please allow the driver to install by clicking on the appropriate button.
Norton 2008/Norton LiveUpdate users may see CPU spikes when SPF is installed on the same machine.
Here are some key features of "Sunbelt Personal Firewall":
· Stop all traffic ? stops all traffic on the computer. This function can be helpful especially when undesirable or strange network activity is detected. Traffic can be restored after the appropriate security actions are taken.
· Logging ? Each firewall module creates an independent log that is stored in a text file. Logs can be viewed in a configuration dialog. Logs can also be stored on a Syslog server.
· Connections overview and statistics ? The overview provides information about established connections and ports opened by individual applications. Information on the current speed and size of transmitted data in both directions is also provided for active connections. The overview is automatically refreshed in predefined time intervals. Statistics show users the number of objects blocked by the Web content filter and the number of detected intrusions during specific time periods.
· Automatic update ? Regular checks are made for newer versions of the firewall. Whenever a new version is detected, users have the option of downloading and installing it. It is also possible to check for new versions manually
Requirements:
· Pentium 400 MHz or higher
· 64 MB RAM
· 15 MB of free disc space
· minimal screen resolution 800x600 pixels
Limitations:
· 30 day trial period.
What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]
· Significant improvement in packet filtering
· Significant improvement in network performance when web filtering is enabled.
· Enhanced Process Injection prevention to prevent code inject attempts into Windows system DLLs.
· Corrected numerous application crashes in the firewall service.
· Corrected various crashes in assist.exe
· Enabled support for Windows Vista
· Corrected issue in which binary data appeared in logs.
· Significant improvement in product stability.
