Re: to PFW or not to PFW

In article <43df98c6$0$1465$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader01.plus.net>,
JIP@that.xx124.place.com says...
> Greetings
>
> As a non-techie I am confused. Whilst lurking in this and related groups I
> see a debate that goes on as to whether there is any point in using PFWs, in
> particular to monitor outgoing traffic. Some say it's essential (as do most
> magazines, and of course all companies marketing such products) and others
> say that they are so easily circumvented that it's a waste of time - and if
> I understand correctly, some even say that they actually open up further
> vulnerabilities.
>
> So, what may be a naive question - is there any point in using a PFW to at
> least stop badly written nasties from kiddy vandals who haven't learned yet
> how to do it properly?

I think the best you can hope for in using a 'personal firewall' is that
it may or may not alert you to something going on or trying to dial out.
If that is useful to you, then fine, otherwise most of them are just
buggy problematic wastes of time. I have tried them all and believe me,
they all have problems. Right now I just use a cheap NAT router with an
AV and that's it.

-- 
Kerodo