CNET Editors' review
Windows ships with an effective suite of security tools, including a firewall, but third-party firewalls are popular with many users. Many are free, and the most popular ones do a good job keeping millions of users safe from cyber attacks, hackers, and other intrusive threats. Privacyware's Privatefirewall has all the features and most of the extras that most personal firewall and host intrusion prevention freeware (HIPS) offer, like its Process Monitor and Port Tracking tools. Its chief advantages are its intelligent tracking feature and its extensive explanations. Privatefirewall monitors your online activity privately to learn your usage patterns. It detects and blocks anomalous usage patterns that could signal an intrusive attack on your system. As with other firewalls, you can easily allow any activity. But Privatefirewall's system is designed to make allowing regular programs less frequent (and annoying) while still protecting you from threats.
Privatefirewall's user interface is easy to understand, and so are its various features and settings, thanks to a right-hand panel that displayed a detailed explanation of everything we selected. The Main Menu opens with two main functions, Internet Security and Network Security. Sliders let us choose High, Low, or Custom security levels much like in Windows. We could add trusted and blocked sites, too. Privatefirewall enables separate Profiles for Home, Office, and Remote connections, a handy option for laptops. We could import and export the program's settings, including Process, Email, and System Anomaly Detection settings. This interesting tool displays Training Statistics that show which programs it analyzed and when; we could set its Sensitivity level and also limit the training period. The program's Help file offers more detail than the user interface in explaining the anomaly detection feature as well as the Port Tracking tool and other features.
The true test of a firewall is in how well it protects your system. We tried a variety of probes and simulated attacks, and Privatefirewall kept them at bay. Since the firewall that fails exits the marketplace quickly, we expected nothing less from Privatefirewall. Its intelligent monitoring and its detailed documentation set it apart from the other free firewalls, though.
Publisher's Description
From Privacyware:
Privatefirewall is a Personal Firewall and Host Intrusion Prevention application designed to help individuals and businesses protect Windows desktops and servers from malware and unauthorized use. Privatefirewall addresses the operating system and application level vulnerabilities and intrusion techniques that hackers exploit to gain access and cause damage to private systems and data. Privatefirewall provides an excellent layer of additional protection to the Windows operating system. Beyond unparalleled personal firewall protection, Privatefirewall leverages proprietary HIPS technologies that model and monitor system and application behavior to identify and block activity characteristic of known malware, hacking, phishing, and other threat types. Privatefirewall ranks among the best performing desktop defense applications tested against the industry's most rigorous leak, general bypass, spying and termination tests and is among a short list of free personal firewall and host intrusion prevention software (HIPS) products that fully supports Microsoft's Windows 8/8.1 Operating System.
What's new in this version: Version 7.0.30.2 - Added support for Windows 8.1 (32/64 bit).
- Fixed Windows 8 Live Tiles issue.
- Added version query check confirmation.
- Updated drivers reviewed and tested by Microsoft Winqual.
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All versions:
4.0 starsout of 129 votes
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Current version:
3.2 starsout of 4 votes
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My rating:
Write review
Results 1-4 of 4
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"Really Good HIPS Feature!"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.30.2
Pros
This Software has very good Zero-day Protection
Cons
It don't work very well with Windows Firewall!
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"Beware!!! Intense Malware on this Install"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.30.2
Pros
I didn't have time to evaluate the firewall component to this install. I was to darn busy trying to remove the malware this download installed. I even opted out of all the additional "free" installs offered before the install program began.
Cons
Loaded up with hard to remove malware. Wow! It was a mistake downloading this train wreck. It was so bad, that I had to walk away from my computer and work on the malware again on another day.
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"Straightforward, effective free firewall!"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.30.2
Pros
Simple to use
Easy to navigate
Adapts easily with your systemCons
Just the old GUI but no more so far.
Summary
From Comodo Free Firewall, I now use the Privatefirewall.
I now use Privatefirewall 7.0 on all of my computers. I uninstall the latest Comodo Free Firewall.
I have made an extensive research from other independent reviews and sites and hence, Privatefirewall is a good contender!
Updated on Jan 17, 2014
Updated on Jan 17, 2014I now use Privatefirewall 7.0 on all of my computers. I uninstall the latest Comodo Free Firewall. -
"Blocks legitimate programs"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.30.2
Pros
- Very light weight and easy to use
- Does it's job of creating a barrier between your computer and the internetCons
- Block a lot of legitimate programs and sometimes doesn't even admit to it. It took me several resets to discover that it crashes my Steam games on launch and I had to turn it of when updating windows because it was automatically blocking random files from the update.
Summary
I wouldn't use it again simply because, if something goes wrong, I'll never be able to be sure if there's something wrong with my computer or if a program has it's hands tied behind it's back by PrivateFirewall.
Results 1-4 of 4
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