Network Security/Protection

[TechErrrNo]

Hi, does anyone know of a good firewall to protect a small network of 7 computers sharing a dial up internet connection? Also, is there a more effective way of stopping spyware, trojans etc than just a single firewall on the connecting machine? A lot of crap is getting in at the moment and it needs sorting out before broadband arrives. Thanks! :wave:

[bAdWaYz]

Zone alarm makes a good free for personal use firewall. I would install it on all computers running on the network. As for stopping spyware well a firewall isn't going to help you there. What you would need to do there is install and run apps such as adaware and spybot S&D, BHO demon and the like. Try out the new MS anti spyware beta its pretty nice as well. When you get broadband hopefully you will also get a router that has a built in hardware firewall offering even better protection.

[Spider]

Dial up is a tough thing to secure. I assume your sharing the connection by having ICS turned on and
6 machines looking to 1 for Internet access. Your best bet is DeepFreeze (http://www.faronics.com/html/deepfreeze.asp).

DeepFreeze will ignore any changes to a machine whether it's a user change or a virus/spyware change.
As the DeepFreeze administrator you set the computer the way you want it...and regardless of any
changes...upon reboot the system is right back to the original Settings DeepFreeze was told to hold.

When high speed comes you can use a router and O/Ss like Windows XP (formatted NTFS file system)
and set user permissions but DeepFreeze will still provide you with client systems that can not be
altered in any way.