Do I Need A Firewall In Win7?

[z123killer]

Do I need a firewall in Windows 7? (I already have an antivirus and Malwarebytes).

[Bloodyvalley]

activate it

[Godlygamer23]

Moved to OSes and Software.

 

You should be fine with the built-in firewall.

[z123killer]

activate it

The windows 7 firewall in windows is activated. I am asking If I should download one other then the windwos 7 firewall

[Arty]

The windows 7 firewall in windows is activated. I am asking If I should download one other then the windwos 7 firewall

your fine

[Bloodyvalley]

The windows 7 firewall in windows is activated. I am asking If I should download one other then the windwos 7 firewall

no it should be fine unless you do some shady shit

[babadoctor]

Moved to OSes and Software.

 

You should be fine with the built-in firewall.

 

you must be joking

right

No, he wil not be okay with built in windows firewall

[ybriK]

Regular users don't need a 3rd party firewall unless they're really paranoid or just prefer an easier method of blocking out certain programs... Like think about it, what are the chances someone's going to try and infiltrate your system when the average joe pretty much goes on facebook, reddit, youtube, tumblr, 4chan, assignment research and porn. Unless you come across some honeypot website or an ip logging website setup by some dude looking for some fun.

 

If you're someone who's really FUCKING PARANOID, buy a hardware based firewall, set up router DMZ, IPv4/IPv6 Firewall, VPN, Encrypted storage easy to throw out laptop.

[z123killer]

no it should be fine unless you do some shady shit

no i don't do shady shit, thanks for the reply

[z123killer]

Regular users don't need a 3rd party firewall unless they're really paranoid or just prefer an easier method of blocking out certain programs...

ok, thanks for helping me out

[Guest Kloaked]

you must be joking

right

No, he wil not be okay with built in windows firewall

 

Yes he will.

[Bangflop]

Windows Defender and Malwarebytes is usually a pretty good combo... I would get the premium version of Malwarebytes for better scans and whatnot but those two combo-ed are really good.

[Akolyte]

Use the default firewall, public network setting is great.  Home is fine if you have a good secured network, although a bunch of attacks are still possible, even then a software firewall should come second from a hardware firewall.  

 

Anyone who says its not enough, is probably crazy and doesn't know how good the Windows Firewall actually is.  The only problem occurs when you accept incoming connections, then you can get hacked.  

 

I use a custom firewall, but even then I would be happy using the default firewall.  I know a penetration tester at a U.S military base who uses the Windows firewall, and rightfully so.  Its one of the best firewalls out there.  

If you want any better you should probably buy a Fortinet Firewall or something.  

 

however, because I'm pretty experienced and know some pretty serious vulnerabilities.  This is a good thing to do:

 

Disable IPv6 on your network adapter, an ipv6 spam attack is easy to do, and can render a Windows machine useless, on anything below Windows 8 it will even be active after a reboot!

disable file sharing if not needed, this will help ALLOT. 

Block all incoming connections if you don't need them.  This will not block the main ports of the internet such as 80 and 443, these should still be open and you should be able to access websites.  

 

If you ever want any security advice, message me  

[omniomi]

you must be joking

right

No, he wil not be okay with built in windows firewall

 

You're joking... Right?

 

Most people these days have a router of some kind be it a standalone router or one built into their modem and they almost always have a firewall component. The days of connecting the family PC directly to the modem and needing a software firewall are mostly gone. The only thing you gain by running a software firewall that your router's firewall likely isn't doing is restrictions on outbound traffic that could in theory stop something shady from "calling home." 

 

Provided you're running some sort of Anti-virus/Anti-malware protection chances are anything that needs to talk outbound to the internet is something that needs to such as IM clients, games, and so on. 

 

Unless you're the kind of person prone to installing viruses, are completely paranoid, and/or desire the ability to control the communication of even legitimate software not considered a threat by your AV there's no real reason to even leave the built-in firewall running. If you're going to leave it running you can probably set the inbound to Allow as your router is already doing it and you're just adding a layer of complexity. There is absolutely zero need for a third-party software firewall above and beyond the built-in Windows Firewall however. 

[babadoctor]

You're joking... Right?

 

Most people these days have a router of some kind be it a standalone router or one built into their modem and they almost always have a firewall component. The days of connecting the family PC directly to the modem and needing a software firewall are mostly gone. The only thing you gain by running a software firewall that your router's firewall likely isn't doing is restrictions on outbound traffic that could in theory stop something shady from "calling home." 

 

Provided you're running some sort of Anti-virus/Anti-malware protection chances are anything that needs to talk outbound to the internet is something that needs to such as IM clients, games, and so on. 

 

Unless you're the kind of person prone to installing viruses, are completely paranoid, and/or desire the ability to control the communication of even legitimate software not considered a threat by your AV there's no real reason to even leave the built-in firewall running. If you're going to leave it running you can probably set the inbound to Allow as your router is already doing it and you're just adding a layer of complexity. There is absolutely zero need for a third-party software firewall above and beyond the built-in Windows Firewall however. 

WELL

MY WINDOWS DESKTOP I THOUGHT WAS FINE WITHOUT MALWARE SCANNERS

I SCANNED IT

IT HAD 20 VIRUSES WITH WINDOWS FIREWALL ON

that is not good

[SkilledRebuilds]

WELL

MY WINDOWS DESKTOP I THOUGHT WAS FINE WITHOUT MALWARE SCANNERS

I SCANNED IT

IT HAD 20 VIRUSES WITH WINDOWS FIREWALL ON

that is not good

The longer you own your PC, the MORE you know about its 'Expected/Optimal Performance' and would know for SURE if a virus was stealing the PC's resources...

 

I've NOT run an antivirus program for years, Just using the Windows Firewall as protection.....PC is still sitting pretty, no problems, after years... cos I surf with common sense.

I know of the typical process EXE's that startup, what runs when I do things, and in general, its a well kept machine.

Windows Firewall is the tits to be honest.. it's pretty great.

[babadoctor]

The longer you own your PC, the MORE you know about its 'Expected/Optimal Performance' and would know for SURE if a virus was stealing the PC's resources...

 

I've NOT run an antivirus program for years, Just using the Windows Firewall as protection.....PC is still sitting pretty, no problems, after years... cos I surf with common sense.

ive had ths for about 3 months

dont judge me

[SkilledRebuilds]

ive had ths for about 3 months

dont judge me

I am not judging, just stating, over time you'll know more about what to do, and what not to do online...

[babadoctor]

The longer you own your PC, the MORE you know about its 'Expected/Optimal Performance' and would know for SURE if a virus was stealing the PC's resources...

 

I've NOT run an antivirus program for years, Just using the Windows Firewall as protection.....PC is still sitting pretty, no problems, after years... cos I surf with common sense.

I know of the typical process EXE's that startup, what runs when I do things, and in general, its a well kept machine.

Windows Firewall is the tits to be honest.. it's pretty great.

ok maybe i should lay off the utorrent

and my various linux distros

[othertomperson]

you must be joking

right

No, he wil not be okay with built in windows firewall

 

Windows Firewall is fine functionally. The only reason you'd want something else is because the interface is arse and it's difficult to access the majority of the non-default functionality.

[Akolyte]

WELL

MY WINDOWS DESKTOP I THOUGHT WAS FINE WITHOUT MALWARE SCANNERS

I SCANNED IT

IT HAD 20 VIRUSES WITH WINDOWS FIREWALL ON

that is not good

And, Windows firewall isn't designed to block malware? 

If you go to a website and it runs a bad script, or you click a link with a bad file its your fault and windows firewall isn't gonna protect you.

 

Windows Firewall is a good firewall, you sir probably need to buy some antivirus software.  You're probably gonna need it.

 

The longer you own your PC, the MORE you know about its 'Expected/Optimal Performance' and would know for SURE if a virus was stealing the PC's resources...

 

I've NOT run an antivirus program for years, Just using the Windows Firewall as protection.....PC is still sitting pretty, no problems, after years... cos I surf with common sense.

I know of the typical process EXE's that startup, what runs when I do things, and in general, its a well kept machine.

Windows Firewall is the tits to be honest.. it's pretty great.

Common sense don't do nothing, if you think like that your system will get compromised like every other company with a systemadmin that thought that way.

 

The thing that protects you is brains, browsers will run any random script, and considering that web servers can be hijacked and scripts can be modified, trusting websites isn't gonna help, nor is only downloading safe files.  The same thing goes for them. 

 

Anything can be compromised, and its important to realise it.  I'm sorry, but as a pentester I get furious when people say common sense protects you, sure you don't need an antivirus but IT smarts is what is really going to save you in the end, not common sense. 

 

If common sense could actually protect you no one would ever be getting infected or hacked.  But since it doesn't because no matter where you go or what you do your always trackable and your system is always able to be compromised and someone can sit in their chair, hit a button and spam your router will 20gigabytes of full force and kill the damn thing. 

 

Once again, this is a rant.  I'm not trying to offend anyone.