Hi =YLAP=,
Well do the test here:
http://www.pcflank.com/about.htmMost hardware firewalls have an Achilles' heel in the fact that they typically handle any traffic from the local network but outward bound as safe, which can sometimes be problematic.
Just imagine the following "likely" scenario, you visit a website and it contains a concealed program, that installs and tries to communicate with someone out on the Net. Trust me, this is not such an unlikely scenario. Remember what you can do with SKEETE (no firewall sees it). For the broadband hardware aforementioned traffic is legit, because it is coming from the inside,
the odds the right ports are being blocked are slim. And this blocking is certainly not a good one for the 1337 gamer- there so-wie-so is a problem. Software firewall have an advantage there with outbound traffic and in the case of a worm creating its own mail server. It goes without saying that a good updated AV product is a completion here you cannot miss.
Security-wise think like this: First line of defense what your ISP offers you: firewall, e-mail virus scanning and spam-scanning.
Second line of defense: your hardware router;
Third line of defense: a Personal Firewall, Anti Spyware, Anti-Virus, Anti-Trojan, Anti-Spam, Anti-Phishing and privacy software, and this is all freely available. Think of a freeware software firewall, read Clousseau report on our forum or wait for MS total inbuilt security (and be prepared to pay for it later).
greets,
polonus
