Can you list those free software?
SHORT ANSWER: Any of the five most popular free software is better than CIS 2025.
LONG ANSWER:
There are different security profiles for different users.
For example, companies have needs for a more restricted security profile (in order to protect the company). Generally, these users are the target of digital attacks, where in most cases the attacker seeks money from the company.
On the other hand, ordinary home users, who represent the majority of the market using free software, they DO NOT need a restricted security profile. This audience in most cases is not even a target for serious digital attacks (generally, they're not attacked by dangerous zero-day attacks).
The participants here at MalwareTips are a point off the curve, because in real life most of them have just a "home user" profile and DO NOT need a restricted security profile. But they are users who approach the topic of security as a hobby, or because they like to test software, or because they suffer from some kind of paranoia etc. And that is why they mistakenly interpret that security software has to be a kind of dumb "deny-all" etc. Such a mistaken perception is not only inconsistent with reality, but is also unfeasible for most modern security profiles.
There is a fourth security profile, which would be "Hackers" or "State Agencies" etc, which is not worth including in my explanation, because they use protocols that are outside of any normal dimension. And also, since the operating systems and hardware themselves, at the factory already contain back-doors or irreparable security breaches, it doesn't even make sense here to talk about free or paid security software.
In this context, CIS 2025 is presented as a package of free security tools, which offers to the public a zero-trust solution at no cost.
The problem is that of all these Comodo' free tools, only one has some value ("Sandbox/Containment"). And if this tool is disabled, then any user profile will have a 100% chance of infection. Therefore, any free software on the market is better than CIS 2025.
But even if "Containment" is enabled, there are also other problems, first because there is no such thing like an "unbeatable software", and second because CIS has accumulated dangerous bugs for the past 5 years. And repeatedly, it was already proven that "Containment" is by-passable.
Unfortunately, Comodo' fanatics have the terrible habit of mental SELECTIVITY, commenting only on cases where "Containment" works, ignoring all the repeated cases where "Containment" did not work, failed and was bypassed.
In the same way, Comodo' fanatics also selectively manipulate security reports, only using results where Comodo did well in the rankings, while omitting and ignoring the vast majority of reports, where Comodo's mediocrity is proven year after year.
Furthermore, when Comodo' fanatics are confronted with real-life cases, the distortion reaches its climax, and users are blamed for everything, always freeing CIS of all responsibility.
All without forgetting the classic "ad-hominem" Comodo' fanatic attacks, where any criticism against Comodo is minimized by fanatics, who intolerantly prevent contradictory debate, and treat criticism with bullying, or disqualifying participants by labeling them as "ignorants" or "haters" or "trolls" or whatever. For Comodo' fanatics there are two types of people: The Comodo' fanatics and the enemy.
Even worse, as I mentioned, the audience that consumes free software is generally home users, and this audience is "plug-and-play", they know nothing, read nothing, and they are not interested in any type of software configuration. Therefore, this public does not have the slightest idea and does not want to deal with programs that are automatically blocked by CIS "Containment" (remembering that most of the programs blocked by CIS in "Containment" do not manage to be virtualized). Both the automatic blocking Containment option, as well as the "ask before Containing" option, is a failed zero-trust approach for home users, because I repeat, users do not want their programs blocked, and users are "happy-clickers" (they don't know what to allow or what to block).
Therefore, same logic, any free software on the market is better than CIS 2025.
It's necessary (once and for all) to put an end to the lies and myths of Comodo' fanatics: Comodo' zero-trust approach is a fallacy, because it's not a security system!
Inside "Containment" there is no identification of what is a "threat" VS what is a "non-harmful program". As already mentioned, most of Comodo' tools are mediocre. Only "Containment" remains with some value, but "Containment" does not use AI, or Behavioral Analysis, or anything. "Containment" does not identify dangerous programs! "Containment" is just a dumb binary blocker, it only differentiates between "known" VS "unknown", if Containment "knows" the software then is allowed, and vice-versa, if Containment "does not know" the program, then is blocked. Nothing more than that! In fact, in the past, a well-known free and widely used program was hacked, and Comodo' "Containment" recognized it as "known", allowed it, the hacked program ran and infected Comodo' users.
In real life dumb binary blockers solely never worked, don't work, and never will work. That's why absolutely no security system (free or paid) ever based its strategy solely on "Containment". Program Virtualization/Containerization is very useful, but only when used as a COMPLEMENT to other intelligent (next-gen) effective security strategies.
Using Comodo while insisting on blocking what is not "known" as a security strategy... is the same as manual hardening of security protocols in the operating system itself. There is no reason to install software, when the same result can be obtained by simply manual customization of settings in the operating system (security hardening). In simple words, just by hardening, for example Windows defender and Windows Firewall, it's possible to achieve exactly same security results. Of course, this dumb strategy will block everything, making normal use impossible, unfeasible for normal users.
In analogy, it's similar to what some software does by allowing/blocking programs. They don't even allow virtualization, they use the "deny all" mechanism, and unauthorized program are not executed.
The difference is that these software never lied like Comodo always lied, they did not present themselves as "unbeatable", and they always were honest in presenting themselves as a kind of mere binary blockers.
The conclusion is that the current "new" CIS 2025, where the "new" only is a different UI, under the hood is the same old software with the same unfixed dangerous old bugs, it DOES NOT serve any user profile, which is why CIS market share has always been, is and will be insignificant. Therefore, any free software on the market is better than CIS 2025.
PS: If Comodo had done things correctly, focusing only on the "Firewall/Containment", fixing bugs, incorporating improvements etc... then an useful software for all user profiles could really be born.
