Once again I am very disappointed with another blatant falsehood presented in this once excellent magazine.
*****
In Larry Seltzer’s article “NAT Enough?”, PC Magazine, September 2004, Page 92, he states the following:
Don’t confuse network firewalls like Symantec’s Norton Internet Security or the Internet Connection Firewall in Windows (soon to be renamed Windows Firewall). These are programs that operate on the PC itself and protect both inbound and outbound communications”
Microsoft’s Internet Connection Firewall and the renamed Windows Firewall in XP SP2 have NEVER protected outbound communications. This has been widely publicized here, CastleCops (formally ComputerCops), in the industry trades and broadcast media, and even PC Magazine in previous editions. This is why Norton’s Internet Security and ZoneLabs’ “free” ZoneAlarm have become so popular.
Surely Larry Seltzer knew this. He is the editor of the Ziff-Davis’ Security Center.
This is a MAJOR oversight on their part as now when millions of folks upgrade to SP2 they will leave their systems vulnerable to attacks by keyloggers, worms, IDENTITY THEFT and other malware programs that will be able to “CALL HOME” unhindered.
This is exactly why PC Magazine is no longer considered a reliable source of information amongst my professional colleagues in the computer and network security industry.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!
worth.
