Most of the routers that will be sold nowadays have hardware based firewalls. These firewalls offer a basic security for home users, but often they have only a few configuration options, because of usability problems.
That’s why it is sometimes needed to install a software firewall. The software firewalls offer many configuration options, most of them are able to monitor system activities and software components. They can monitor single programs and their components and detect the changes in behaviour and code of them.
The best software firewalls that I know are Zone Alarm Pro and Outpost Firewall Pro.
I don’t understand, why I need to install software based firewall, if I have a hardware based one. I thoguht that software firewall is only for people, who don’t have any router.
Hardware based firewalls don’t have a possibility to block internet access for specific programs and it is not good, because if you computer infected with trojan or keylogger, this programms will be able to send your personal information in the internet and you will not able to prevent it.
There are many reasons because I use software firewall, but I don’t think that a home user should do it only because he thinks, his computer will be more secure.At first I would recommend to learn basics of internet security, because, if somebody don’t understand how his computer works, he will not be able to defend himself from crackers hackers and so on.
Actually I use Windows Vista Firewall and I think, I don’t need any other security software. I can’t imagine that somebody will try to hack me, I’m not a spy and I don’t have any information on my laptop that could be so useful for somebody.
There are many hackers from Russia or other eastern countries that probaly can try to hack your computer and steel your bank account access or eBay password.
Firewall is a good thing, but it make my computer very slow and all this pop ups with questions about access to internet of changed components of programms are tiresome.