Advice Request Product downgrade: ESET Internet Security to ESET Nod32

[amirr]

I read VPN Speeds Explained
This part came to my attention:

So I decided to downgrade from ESET IS to ESET Nod32.
The only thing important for me now that I am missing is the Firewall of ESET Internet Security.

How much having a Firewall is important? Any idea?

The second question is that I did disable Windows Defender before via this guide:

Now that I switched to Nod32, the Windows Defender's Firewall is automatically activated, right?
Is that good enough for Windows 10? Thanks.

 

[EndangeredPootis]

An firewall is more important than an antivirus, especially in these ages of advancing threats which antiviruses will struggle to keep up with, though having an antivirus firewall is not really needed, there are free firewalls like Tinywall and Binisoft/Malwarebytes firewall control, since the default windows firewall is easily bypassed and not very secure.

 

[amirr]

An firewall is more important than an antivirus, especially in these ages of advancing threats which antiviruses will struggle to keep up with, though having an antivirus firewall is not really needed, there are free firewalls like Tinywall and Binisoft/Malwarebytes firewall control, since the default windows firewall is easily bypassed and not very secure.

Why You Don’t Need to Install a Third-Party Firewall (And When You Do) (howtogeek.com)

 

[Nightwalker]

Your decision would not make a difference at all because ESET NOD32 (antivirus only) does SSL scanning like the Internet Security and both can be configured to not do that (so not an issue at all).

About the firewall, ESET uses the Windows Filtering Platform, so it should not present any problem.

Personally I would use the Internet Security, it has some security advantages beyond the firewall that makes it the better choice.

 

[amirr]

Your decision would not make a difference at all because ESET NOD32 (antivirus only) does SSL scanning like the Internet Security and both can be configured to not do that (so not an issue at all).

About the firewall, ESET uses the Windows Filtering Platform, so it should not present any problem.

Personally I would use the Internet Security, it has some security advantages beyond the firewall that makes it the better choice.

Yes, you are right. Thank you. Mine is off now because I already did turn it off in EIS.

What do you mean that Nod32 uses the Windows Filtering Platform?
Can you please name other security advantages of EIS over Nod32 other than that listed on Product downgrade | ESET Internet Security | ESET Online Help ?
Thank you.

 

[Nightwalker]

Yes, you are right. Thank you. Mine is off now because I already did turn it off in EIS.
View attachment 253774


What do you mean that Nod32 uses the Windows Filtering Platform?
Can you please name other security advantages of EIS over Nod32 other than that listed on Product downgrade | ESET Internet Security | ESET Online Help ?
Thank you.

Purpose​

Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) is a set of API and system services that provide a platform for creating network filtering applications. The WFP API allows developers to write code that interacts with the packet processing that takes place at several layers in the networking stack of the operating system. Network data can be filtered and also modified before it reaches its destination.

By providing a simpler development platform, WFP is designed to replace previous packet filtering technologies such as Transport Driver Interface (TDI) filters, Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) filters, and Winsock Layered Service Providers (LSP). Starting in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista, the firewall hook and the filter hook drivers are not available; applications that were using these drivers should use WFP instead.

With the WFP API, developers can implement firewalls, intrusion detection systems, antivirus programs, network monitoring tools, and parental controls. WFP integrates with and provides support for firewall features such as authenticated communication and dynamic firewall configuration based on applications' use of sockets API (application-based policy). WFP also provides infrastructure for IPsec policy management, change notifications, network diagnostics, and stateful filtering.

WFP reduces conflicts and BSODs that were very common in the days where vendors "hacked" the kernel to implement their firewall/network filtering modules.

About the advantagens of EIS over NOD32 I can nominate mainly the "Network attack protection (IDS)" and "Botnet protection" modules, the former is a very powerful tool against exploits (it blocked the ETERNALBLUE exploit responsible for the WannaCry delivery method) and the latter is very useful against ransomwares and trojans for example.

Source:

ETERNALBLUE vs Internet Security Suites and nextgen protections - MRG Effitas

Due to the recent #wannacry ransomware events, we initiated a quick test in our lab. Most vendors claim to protect […]

www.mrg-effitas.com

 

[Venustus]

How much having a Firewall is important?

For me it is mandatory...

 

[Evjl's Rain]

for me, a third-party firewall is not very important for regular users, unless we are paranoid about network attacks or we want to control every network traffic
we probably never touch firewall settigs and let it work, not sure how effective it is because we rarely see it blocks something. I have never seen my AV's firewall blocked anything (inbound connections) for years
messing with firewall will cause headaches and issues with connections, like I had in the past. I, now, prefer a super stable working machine rather than a super secure machine with many annoyances and distractions

 

[Cortex]

I would use the Internet Security rather than Nod32 which I used for years, several advantages but of course it's personal choice.

 

[Divine_Barakah]

I would use the Internet Security rather than Nod32 which I used for years, several advantages but of course it's personal choice.

EIS offers a firewall component, but, honestly, the settings are too advanced for me. I also experienced some issue while using EIS. For example, it blocked access to my WIFI Epson printer.

 

[Nightwalker]

Is it for Eset IS or Nod32?

As per the user post it should be applicable for both, but why you would use it? You dont know what is changed, it is just a normal user saying that "those settings are for better security" while ESET is perfectly adequate at default settings.

If you want more protection, you can configure with this "official" rules for HIPS below (but you dont need to).

[KB6119] Configure HIPS rules for ESET business products to protect against ransomware

support.eset.com

 

[Nightwalker]

for me, a third-party firewall is not very important for regular users, unless we are paranoid about network attacks or we want to control every network traffic
we probably never touch firewall settigs and let it work, not sure how effective it is because we rarely see it blocks something. I have never seen my AV's firewall blocked anything (inbound connections) for years
messing with firewall will cause headaches and issues with connections, like I had in the past. I, now, prefer a super stable working machine rather than a super secure machine with many annoyances and distractions

Your post is not applicable to ESET whom is using Windows Filtering Platform for years and there is a lot more in ESET Internet Security than just network traffic control, but yeah I agree about the part that "messing with firewall will cause headaches and issues with connections".

 

[amirr]

@Nightwalker This might seem offtopic, but since it talks about ESET, I thought to know your input about it:

Running AdGuard with ESET Internet Security

Hello, can i run AdGuard Windows App without any problems alongside ESET Internet Security ? Would like to test AdGuard out instead of normal browser AddOns. Does anyone here has experience with this application and ESET together ? AdGuard has a few features ESET has too. Like HTTPS filtering and...

forum.eset.com

Can you elaborate on the topic above?
What do you think of running AdGuard for Windows with ESET Nod32?

Thank you.

 

[Nightwalker]

@Nightwalker This might seem offtopic, but since it talks about ESET, I thought to know your input about it:

Running AdGuard with ESET Internet Security

Hello, can i run AdGuard Windows App without any problems alongside ESET Internet Security ? Would like to test AdGuard out instead of normal browser AddOns. Does anyone here has experience with this application and ESET together ? AdGuard has a few features ESET has too. Like HTTPS filtering and...

forum.eset.com

Can you elaborate on the topic above?
What do you think of running AdGuard for Windows with ESET Nod32?

Thank you.

The last time I used ESET along with AdGuard I didnt experience any problem or conflict (I am a Kaspersky and Microsoft Defender user nowadays), so go ahead, AdGuard for Windows is pretty good.

In any case, if you experience any problem or conflict you can disable the WFP driver in AdGuard or the SSL Scanning in ESET (you have already done that right?).

 

[amirr]

@Nightwalker Yes, SSL Scanning in ESET is already disabled. Do I need to go ahead and also disable WFP Driver in AdGuard for Windows?

 

[Nightwalker]

@Nightwalker Yes, SSL Scanning in ESET is already disabled. Do I need to go ahead and also disable WFP Driver in AdGuard for Windows?

No, only if you experience problems.

 

[amirr]

Can you kindly please mention what kind of problems, for instance?

 

[Divine_Barakah]

For me it does not make sense to disable the https scanning in you AV and leave it enabled in Adguard Desktop. Is that not contradictory?
I would leave https scanning in Eset enabled and use Adguard DNS instead of using Adguard Desktop.

 

[Nightwalker]

Can you kindly please mention what kind of problems, for instance?

Slowdowns, HTTPS connections failures, certificate conflicts, BSODs, if you are not experiencing any of this just leave everything at default settings; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Nightwalker]

For me it does not make sense to disable the https scanning in you AV and leave it enabled in Adguard Desktop. Is that not contradictory?
I would leave https scanning in Eset enabled and use Adguard DNS instead of using Adguard Desktop.

It isnt contradictory, without HTTPS Scanning in AdGuard Desktop it is almost useless, it wont filter 99 % of ADs, while the antivirus will protect the system with other modules.

Just to be clear, it isnt necessary to disable the SSL Scanning, just if the user is experiencing problems, it is just a "What If" scenario.

AdGuard Desktop is much better than the DNS filter, the latter cant do cosmetic filtering, cant defuse anti adblocker scripts correctly and so on.

For curiosity sake, I am using Kaspersky Internet Security 2021 + AdGuard for Windows with NextDNS with all modules enabled and there is no conflict or slowdown whatsoever.