Battle Best Firewall: Kaspersky IS 2016, BitDefender IS, or Eset Smart Security, or Emsisoft IS

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MRM3601

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Dec 12, 2013
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Which security suite has the best firewall? Kaspersky IS 2016, BitDefender IS, Eset Smart Security, or Emsisoft IS?
 
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Online_Sword

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Mar 23, 2015
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Here I hope experienced users could introduce how to measure and evaluate the capability of a firewall.:)

If we were talking about an antivirus engine, maybe we could measure its capability with some straightforward indicators, such as detection rate & false positive rate, and evaluate it according some features that are not difficult to understand, such as the capability of detection packed viruses & the capability of removing active viruses.

But regarding the firewall... How to evaluate a firewall? The only thing I know is the Matousec tests:(: Results and comments - www.matousec.com
 

Kantry123

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Oct 20, 2014
321
For me Windows Firewall Control by Binisoft...
Awesome and MUST have as WIndows Firewall is NO less than Other alternatives

Regards
 

Enju

Level 9
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Jul 16, 2014
443
Here I hope experienced users could introduce how to measure and evaluate the capability of a firewall.:)

If we were talking about an antivirus engine, maybe we could measure its capability with some straightforward indicators, such as detection rate & false positive rate, and evaluate it according some features that are not difficult to understand, such as the capability of detection packed viruses & the capability of removing active viruses.

But regarding the firewall... How to evaluate a firewall? The only thing I know is the Matousec tests:(: Results and comments - www.matousec.com
The matousec tests are HIPS tests in reality so I wouldn't really count on them. Testing firewalls is quite the task imo since a lot of them aren't just firewalls anymore but include a plethora of extra features and gimmicks.

Over the years it has become obvious that a standard firewall isn't needed anymore since almost all consumer routers include them anyways and even the Windows firewall is enough for blocking inbound(!) traffic. Now here comes the real deal: Outbound traffic. How do you test the protection of firewalls against outbound traffic? In reality, you really can't. There are hundreds if not thousands of ways to masquerade, hide and obscure traffic, because of this they started including HIPS features. Prime example here is Comodo, they provide insane amounts of control over quite a lot of things in their HIPS but is it really enough? Even the mighty Comodo has been breached and it will happen again and again until you have to manually allow even the movement of the mouse cursor. Even then it will happen since every software has flaws and coding errors, so why even bother with it? Software firewalls are insecure by design since the host can be compromised and hardware firewalls are too picky and require a lof of attention and knowledge to configure and keep safe and even then they can and will fail.

Long story short: Test all four and see which one fulfills your requirements of a firewall.
 

DracusNarcrym

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Oct 16, 2015
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Out of the current list, in my opinion, Emsisoft Internet Security provides the most powerful firewall. However, it is obviously not as usable/user-friendly as the rest, but it is the most versatile. The user interface of all products is more or less clean and organized, so it all depends on user's preferences to determine which is more suitable for him/her. Resource usage, in my opinion, is overall the same for every firewall component of each Internet Security product. Network Firewalls or HIPS do not have as great an impact on the system as other Internet Security components, such as the signature-based Antivirus components, which are generally heavy on resource usage.


However, if I were to make a suggestion which isn't in this list, I would definitely recommend COMODO Firewall. It is free, customizable, versatile and powerful. It can be tweaked for usability, maximum security or for efficient balance between security and usability. With a few tweaks it can be run alongside another Internet Security product as well. COMODO Firewall is one of the best security products currently available. It is my personal favorite and I am using it on every single one of my computers.
 
I

illumination

The matousec tests are HIPS tests in reality so I wouldn't really count on them. Testing firewalls is quite the task imo since a lot of them aren't just firewalls anymore but include a plethora of extra features and gimmicks.

Over the years it has become obvious that a standard firewall isn't needed anymore since almost all consumer routers include them anyways and even the Windows firewall is enough for blocking inbound(!) traffic. Now here comes the real deal: Outbound traffic. How do you test the protection of firewalls against outbound traffic? In reality, you really can't. There are hundreds if not thousands of ways to masquerade, hide and obscure traffic, because of this they started including HIPS features. Prime example here is Comodo, they provide insane amounts of control over quite a lot of things in their HIPS but is it really enough? Even the mighty Comodo has been breached and it will happen again and again until you have to manually allow even the movement of the mouse cursor. Even then it will happen since every software has flaws and coding errors, so why even bother with it? Software firewalls are insecure by design since the host can be compromised and hardware firewalls are too picky and require a lof of attention and knowledge to configure and keep safe and even then they can and will fail.

Long story short: Test all four and see which one fulfills your requirements of a firewall.
Now this is an excellent answer. I see a lot of reply's stating "it's this one" with no reasons as to why that particular user believes it to be.

As for the OP, just like any other thread in this forum asking "which is best" there really is no best. As stated in Enju's "long story short", it is best to test an application on your system, and see how it works with your system, uses and knowledge.
 

jamescv7

Level 85
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Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
They depend too much on Matousec which is a synthetic test so none real world scenario brought out, although good for reference basis just remember that the effectiveness of Firewall these days needs HIPS, BB or even Cloud to understand the overall alerts with definite evidence.

But still its up to the user input how actions should behave.

Kaspersky have established good firewall structure next to Comodo and Emsisoft, meanwhile ESET and few others are likely design to be simplified.
 
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