[Rhodes22-list] Tasteful? Firewalls

[Mark Kaynor]

Bob,

I did some quick rooting around on the Internet and was pleasantly surprised
at what's available out there. For example, Netgear has what appears to be a
pretty full function firewall for around $100 -
http://www.netgear.com/products/details/FVS318.php?view=

I don't know how good it is or what the software's like, but I have used
other Netgear equipment in the past and have been pretty happy with it. I'm
sure there are comparable products out there from several other
manufacturers, as well. I bet if you do some searching you'll even be able
to find product reviews that will help you decide.

For a good read about firewalls and security, check out
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1746 and
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1450&page=6

No idea what it'd cost to have someone else set up - I would think an hour
or so of an experienced technician's time should do it. I'd suggest giving
it a shot yourself for starters. If you bugger it up, you can always reset
the unit to factory defaults for the technician <g>.

Mark



-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org]On Behalf Of Robert Skinner
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 9:35 PM
To: Rhodes 22 mail list
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Tasteful? Firewalls


Mark Kaynor wrote:
> ...
> Many firewalls use what's called "tasteful
> packet inspection" to determine whether
> packets can get through the firewall based
> on the protocol, port, and source and
> destination addresses...
-------------------------------------------
Mark -

Other than the delightful gaffe "stateful",
a good exposition.  Compliments to the cook!

Some observations:

The USR NAT wireless router costs less than $100, and in
combination with Zone Alarm, Netscape, and some stringent
user training (I beat my wife regularly) has kept us free
from infection for the last 2 years.

In commercial applications I have used the UNIX-subset-based
PIX firewall, now complicated by CISCO.  It once cost $9,000
for a very limited license.

Some questions:

What is the cheapest fully functional firewall appliance
(hardware-software package as opposed to just software)
on the market today that meets your requirements?

Can John/Jane Q. NotComputerLiterateUser set it up and
operate it?  Can (s)he easily update hardware, firmware,
and/or software as occasionally required?

If not, how much would it cost to have it set up and serviced?

How say you, Mark?

/Bob Skinner

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