Are Firewalls Truely Needed Today?

So my Information Studies Technology teacher tells me that Firewalls are useless against malware! I’m going to test this idea with using Windows Firewall only and not a 3rd party Firewall like Outpost I was previously using and see what happens until my computer gets attacked or infected by malicious users/software. I know that firewalls are basically in your mind ‘A huge brick wall with holes which only certain data pass through certain holes’ but today it’s much much more.

This idea will have only malware protection from avast! 5 Home or Microsoft Security Essentials (Latest Ongoing Beta) and nothing else apart from Windows Firewall enabled in my Windows 7 Ultimate rig. But my questions are…

• What about spyware?
• Don’t firewalls today protect against these with a simple block button instead of manually adding ports to a blacklist?
• What about Hackers using backdoors dropped by trojans?
• What about rogue software I may somehow manage to install?

Last time I remember I had my rigs ass saved from a piece of rogue software trying to download MORE rogue software due to Outpost telling me that there was suspicious activity going on which I had replied ‘Block’. But have 3rd party firewalls today just lost the meaning of firewall and are really just an form of antimalware protection scanning for malicious network activity comparing with definitions? I think so…

Since Windows Firewall does not compare with definitions or heuristics It seems it’s the only firewall that has retained it’s old protection styles today. This makes the closest test I can find easily in today’s times.

So we shall rely on whats called ‘Basic’ Protection from MSE and a somewhat better protection from avast! 5. I will not deliberately install malware on here but just let it happen from normal computer usage of a experienced user such as myself. If my rig does get infected or attacked by a external source solely because I did not have a good 3rd party firewall install it will prove 3 things.

1. Firewalls today are needed! They are more advanced than the ones you think back to in the late 1980′s when the world had got the internet.

2. Even experienced users such as myself can get infected regardless of knowledge.

3. Windows Firewall needs an complete remake in order to protect against these malware attacks.

4. The term Firewall needs to be changed! (Had to include that extra one )

The positive thing about this test is that I wont need the paid PRO crap protection I believe its not needed… I mean SO WHAT!? You have got extra features I CAN ALREADY DO CURRENTLY with the proper settings of the programs I use. Why pay for something you already have? Better yet I will ultimately have a faster start up time and better performance rather than have bloated software which likes to be called ‘Internet Security’ bogging down everything!

So when I get Infected or Hacked I will make a post linking to this one if I find any evidence that we still need ‘Firewalls’ in today’s times. That will show you teachers your not so smart after all!

If you want to check out avast! 5, Microsoft Security Essentials or Outpost Firewall (Pro Version here) click on the hyperlinks I recommend either two antimalware solutions with Outpost! (or the Pro version too) They are all great and haven’t failed me so far!