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Firewalls round up
Product reviews > Software > Firewalls

If you want to ensure the outside world can't get access to your PC while you're online, you need to install a personal firewall. As many of us pay for our internet connection using a flat rate for unlimited access, we tend to spend longer on the net, giving hackers more time and opportunity to break into our computers.
There are a variety of different firewall options available for personal use, ranging from simple free software you can download for personal use to more complicated commercial software you have to pay for.

What you need from a personal firewall is something that's going to keep the bad guys out and let in the people you trust. If you're running a simple PC configuration with one machine accessing the internet, things are fairly straightforward. If you've got more than one PC sharing an ADSL connection, you'll need more configuration options, allowing different machines on your home network access to each other.

Product Price Reviewed Rating
Outpost Firewall Pro 2009 £22 Aug 2008

Outpost Firewall Pro 2009 Outpost Firewall Pro 2009 scored an astonishing 99 per cent in Matousec's independent test, making it the most secure firewall of the four reviewed for Issue 195. more..

Online Armor Personal Firewall Pro £20 Aug 2008

Online Armor Personal Firewall Pro With a 98 per cent overall score from Matousec, the commercial version of Online Armor is a highly efficient firewall, offering excellent security. more..

Comodo Firewall Pro Free Aug 2008

Comodo Firewall Pro Comodo Firewall Pro offers an astonishing degree of protection for a free application, scoring an impressive 95 per cent in Matousec's tests. more..

Online Armor Personal Firewall Free Free Aug 2008

Online Armor Personal Firewall Free The free version of Online Armor Personal Firewall is difficult to distinguish from its commercial sibling in terms of looks. more..

Symantec Norton 360 Version 2.0 £60 per year Apr 2008

Symantec Norton 360 Version 2.0 A year after releasing Norton 360, Symantec has added some useful, new features in Version 2.0, to make your computer even more resilient to attack. more..

Microsoft Windows Live OneCare 2.0 £37.99 inc VAT per year Mar 2008

Microsoft Windows Live OneCare 2.0 Microsoft is often criticised for the security of its operating systems – can this safety software make amends? Web User finds out... more..

Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2008 £55 inc VAT for one year’s protection; £75 inc VAT for two years Jan 2008

Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2008 Security companies are increasingly bundling their products into a single package these days, offering protection against all threats rather than targeting individual issues. more..

Agnitum Outpost Security Suite Pro £27 inc VAT for one user - £55 inc VAT for five users Jan 2008

Agnitum Outpost Security Suite Pro With a robust firewall already under its belt, Web User examines Agnitum's entry into the competitive world of the security suite... more..

ESET Smart Security Home £44.99 inc VAT Dec 2007

ESET Smart Security Home ESET's NOD tool has a superb reputation for anti-virus protection. Web User checks out its elevation to a suite... more..

BullGuard Internet Security 8.0 £45.95 inc VAT for one year Dec 2007

BullGuard Internet Security 8.0 If you want the security of 24-hour technical support, we'd recommend a security suite that covers the majority of your safety requirements... more..

Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 £49.99 inc VAT Nov 2007

Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 An all-in-one suite is still the easiest route to a safe PC. Web User checks out Symantec's latest option... more..

Yoggie pico personal security appliance £95 inc VAT Jul 2007

Yoggie pico personal security appliance The Yoggie Pico cuts out the need to install security software on your PC by running everything you need direct from a USB device. more..

Comodo Personal Firewall v3 Free Jul 2007

Comodo Personal Firewall v3 For the purposes of this test we got our hands on the very latest version of Comodo, which was still undergoing tweaking but should just be ready by the time you read this. more..

Ashampoo Firewall Free 1.20 Free Jul 2007

Ashampoo Firewall Free 1.20 Ashampoo is a fairly new kid on the free firewall block but it performed reasonably well. However, it fell down on one element of the Shields Up test by responding to a ping. more..

PC Tools Firewall Plus 2.0 Free Jul 2007

PC Tools Firewall Plus 2.0 PC Tools's free firewall was one of the first to work with Windows Vista and, for that reason, has won a lot of new fans. It blocked two out of the 10 Atelier Web tests... more..

Windows Live OneCare £37.99 inc VAT for one year for three PCs Mar 2007

Windows Live OneCare Microsoft's all-in-one entry into the home security business is here – Web User puts it to the test... more..

BullGuard BackUp £19.99 inc VAT for one year Feb 2007

BullGuard BackUp Everyone needs to back up their data as often as possible. We examine the latest service to offer online storage and handy automated software... more..

Norton Internet Security 2006 £49.99 inc VAT Feb 2006

Norton Internet Security 2006 Symantec's Norton Internet Security is one of the best-selling security suites – is the latest version worthy of its reputation? more..

Panda Platinum 2006 Internet Security £45 inc VAT Dec 2005

Panda Platinum 2006 Internet Security The latest security suite to join the rush of updated products is Panda's Platinum 2006 Internet Security more..

F-Secure Internet Security 2006 £38.95 inc VAT Oct 2005

F-Secure Internet Security 2005 F-Secure lines itself up against Norton and McAfee to provide an all-in-one security suite more..

ZoneAlarm 5.5 Free Jun 2005

ZoneAlarm Firewall Possibly the best known of the free firewalls, ZoneAlarm has plenty to be said for it. In addition to being free for personal use, it is easy to operate and very effective in action. more..

Kerio Personal Firewall 4 Free May 2005

Kerio Firewall Kerio Personal Firewall 4 is completely free for home users. Detecting intrusions, controlling which software is allowed access to the internet and updating itself automatically. more..

Windows Firewall Free May 2005

Windows Firewall Already proving popular (if only by default) is the Windows Firewall that became available to owners of Windows XP upon installation of the security-tightening SP2 update. more..

Sygate Personal Firewall 5.6 Free May 2005

Sygate Firewall Sygate Personal Firewall 5.6 boasts protocol driver-level detection, which prevents malicious programs and Trojans accessing the network... more..

Outpost Free 1.0 Free May 2005

Outpost Firewall With its unfriendly and complicated interface, it's easy to make mistakes with Outpost. more..

BT NetProtect £3.50 per month inc VAT Apr 2005

BT NetProtect BT already has fingers and thumbs in all sorts of corners of the internet pie, from broadband to modems, so it was probably only a matter of time before the telecommunications giant decided to offer a security suite. more..

ZoneAlarm Security Suite £49.95 inc VAT Feb 2005

ZoneAlarm Security Suite ZoneLabs will be familiar to most web users as the creator of ZoneAlarm – the free firewall that millions of internet users have downloaded and installed to protect their computers from hackers. more..

McAfee Internet Security Suite 2005 £50 inc VAT (£80 for three licences) Jan 2005

McAfee Internet Security Suite 2005 You can now buy McAfee's 2005-branded security software as a single suite, offering a complete set of security features in one package at an attractive price. more..



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Welcome to Web User magazine's online home, where you'll find news, reviews and a buzzing forum. For the best websites, practical advice and the latest music and film downloads every fortnight, get Web User, the UK’s best selling internet magazine.
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