Boost Your Security with Jetico Personal Firewall
The recently released Jetico Personal Firewall Version is a powerful security suite that protects your computer from external hacking attacks as well internal disturbances from malicious programs hidden in your system. Jetico Personal Firewall practically checks every packet of data that is exchanged by your computer and comes with superb built-in documentation – proving to be an invaluable security solution that is cost effective as well as powerful.
However, beginner-level users might find this application hard to manage because Jetico Personal Firewall requires you to carry out intensive configuration settings before using it. Entering a wrong configuration setting might cause some of your applications to run with error messages – or worse, not run at all.
This security software gives you three levels of protection: low-level network packets filtering, application-level network events filtering and user-level processing activity filtering.
Jetico Personal Firewall has a free 30-day trial version with a 3.2 MB installation kit. After the installation a wizards guides you through the various configurations sequentially, and finally, after restarting your PC, you are guided to the Jetico Personal Firewall window. Five tabs are visible in this window:
- Network Traffic: display a graphical view of all the internet traffic –incoming as well as outgoing.
- Application: shows the currently-running programs and their network/internet connection details.
- Log: shows all system events being monitored.
- Group: allows you to manage groups with similar firewall rules.
- Configuration: allows you to adjust the filtering settings.
Regarding the Version 2.0.0.35 in particular, the new changes that have been incorporated are given below.
Removed features
• Jetico Firewall does not support Windows 9x/Me anymore.
System-related changes
• As this tool starts up as a privileged Windows application, it starts the protection regime even before you log-on to your user profile.
• Native support is provided for fast user switching so that you don’t have to worry about security when you go from one user profile to the other.
• The Access Control Lists (ACLs) allow you to manage groups of applications and the privileges you want to give them as an administrator.
• Jetico is also compatible with the Windows XP SP2 Security Center.
User interface changes
• The interface for editing rules for the different programs has been improved.
• The popup dialog has a new look on the whole, and the text for popup options can be changed as per your wish.
• The different firewall options previously included in the Configuration Wizard are now integrated into the primary application window.
• Language support has been enhanced. Now any language from a single text file (that is UTF-8 encoded) can provide the necessary language support.
Configuration changes
• Jetico also incorporates an XML-based file format as of now.
• All users share a single configuration for the protective firewall.
• The configuration controls have been improved and simplified.
• Hash handling has been changed – a new and separate table has been included in this version.
• A root table is assigned to every firewall filter.
• Automatic variables have been included that take care of all local connections – one variable per local connection.
Changes in firewall rules
• Wherever possible, the firewall rules include a listing of parameters that you can tweak to your needs.
• All the IP rules automatically take into account address changes.
• For applications, the rules affecting them have events that govern indirect/direct access.
• Hash checking can be done via a new module exclusively to that purpose.
• Wildcards are supported in the file-path filed of most of the modules.
Logging subsystem changes
• You can associate log entries with every rule.
• You can tell Jetico to create a rule-based log of the activities.
• Jetico is now WELF-compatible, a text format for logs that most of the log analyzers support.