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There are dozens of programs out there for windows PC's adding an additional firewall software layer... everything from ZoneAlarm, Norton Security(Norton 360), Kaspersky Internet Security, F-Secure Internet Security and McAfee Personal Firewall, all of which are filling a very important void in the shortcomings of the standard windows firewall. Which Firewall is the best package depends on how you use your system and personal preference. Before you go out and purchase a software firewall package, do your research... Google is your friend.. search for "Firewall software reviews" and look for a website from a reliable known source. My personal favorite and one I tend to trust for windows is the latest version of ZoneAlarm Pro and running on WindowsXP Pro. I have no idea which would be best for Vista as I have refused to touch Vista up to this point, (personal preference).
When it came to my Mac, particularly with Leopard on it, while I knew it has a built-in newly designed firewall package... I was interested in finding out how well it performed, therefore I went to GRC. For testing ANY computer system... Windows, Mac, Linux, UNIX, whatever.. The website to visit and run a FREE automated scan on your computer remotely from the Internet is Gibson Research Corp! They provide a secure, trusted scan of your computer and tell you exactly what can be seen and accessed from the Internet. This is a great service and excellent way to test any firewall package you are running... As well as find holes to plug. I went there and proceeded to run every test available getting further complex as the tests continued.
Gibson Research Corp. - ShieldUp! Scan
While on my WindowsXP machine it found almost all ports either blocked or in stealth mode(cannot be found), I did have 4 ports open and accessible as they are standard ports needed for Internet & network use in my house.
On my Leopard-installed Macbook Pro, not ONE port was found to be accessible or even found... everything in 100% stealth mode. The site gave my computer the Top-rating as FULLY secure. Pretty amazing as I use it for Internet access, Local Network access, Remote Server access, as well as have it setup for desktop sharing to my other home computers without problems.
Needless to say I was very surprised and pleased with the built-in free firewall that comes with the Leopard OS and its latest updates. They also added an application level access system where if any software try to access your system, a system window will open telling exactly what program is asking for access, and asking your permission. You then have the ability to provide access 1 time, always, or never. While this appears to be similar to how Microsoft Vista security works.... unlike Vista with popups continuously, I have only had a popup asking for permission 3 times in the entire last year.
Now, network security nerds will argue that even though all ports were in Stealth mode, the fact that I am using them for all the things I mentioned above, proves they are open and accessible. While this is true, most malicious port-scan software which scoures the Internet for a open computer ports to provide a location to load spyware, botnet scripts and viruses will be unable to access my computer by never being able to find it.
I'd love to cover firewall software for Linux, which I personally believe is some of the best out there, with hundreds of different Distributions of Linux, and nearly that many different Firewall designs, reviewing even some of them would be a daunting task. For the home user, what we've looked at above, covers 97 percent of users. Also save the Gibson research link and go back and use it every few months... you'd be surprised that with day-to-day use of various software, and installing the latest photo sharing utility, game or website design software can affect your firewall and may open something you don't want accessible.
Better safe than sorry.....
