Outpost Firewall Pro

Outpost Firewall Pro

Developer(s)	Agnitum
Stable release	7.5.1 (3720.574.1668) / July 14, 2011; 4 months ago (2011-07-14)
Operating system	Microsoft Windows 32-/64-Bit
Platform	XP, Vista, 7, Windows Server 2003, 2008
Type	Firewall
License	Proprietary EULA
Website	www.agnitum.com

Outpost Firewall Pro is a software-based personal firewall package developed by the Agnitum (founded in 1999 in St. Petersburg, Russia). It is available in both paid and freeware versions. Paid version by default has 5 language packs - English, German, French, Spanish and Russian. Free version has only English interface and haven't been updated since April 2009, being included into Outpost Security Suite Free 7.0 since November 2010.^[1]

General Description

Outpost Firewall Pro (personal firewall) is designed to monitor incoming and outgoing network traffic on Windows machines. Like most advanced PC firewalls (ZoneAlarm, Comodo, etc.), Outpost goes beyond monitoring internet traffic and also monitors application behavior in an attempt to stop malicious software covertly infecting Windows systems. Agnitum calls this technology "Component Control" and "Anti-Leak Control" (included into HIPS-based "Host Protection" module). The product also includes a spyware scanner and monitor, together with pop-up blocker/spyware filter for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox (Outpost's web surfing security tools include black-lists for IPs and URLs, unwanted web page element filters and ad-blocking. The technology altogether is known as "Web control").

Version 7.5 and on-going add new techniques to help PC users block unknown/new threats before their activation:

• Removable media protection (so-called "USB Virus Protection", part of the Proactive Protection module) — non-signature auto-run vulnerability with 5-level blocking of USB/CD/DVD storages auto-run files launch.
• SmartDecision technology (so-called "Personal Virus Adviser", basis of the Proactive Protection module) — non-signature detection technology to facilitate decision-making process while security issues. 5-level ranging for starting processes/executing files is applied.

Product's Use Cases

Outpost Firewall Pro allows the user to specifically define how a PC application connects to the Internet. This is known as the "Rules Wizard" mode, or policy, and is the default behavior for the program. When in this mode, Outpost Firewall Pro displays a prompt each time a new process attempts network access or when a process requests a connection that is not covered by its pre-validated rules. The idea being that this then lets the user decide whether an application should be allowed a network connection to a specific address, port or protocol.

In practice, prompting users can make the product seem over complicated to less experienced users. Agnitum engineers includes pre-set rules for many popular applications. Users can optionally submit rules they have created through the Agnitum ImproveNet^[2] system for validation and sharing new rules by Agnitum engineers via product updates.

First versions for Outpost Firewall Pro (1.0...4.0) were also designed to allow users to create their own plugins and add other third-party plugins^[3] to meet specific needs and/or functionality.^[4]

Online Assistance

Outpost Firewall Pro users developed an unofficial web forum fed by Agnitum ^[5] since 2002 to discuss product features and support. The forum is moderated by experienced senior users of Outpost Firewall Pro and offers help and support for technical advice and program assistance.

Achievements

Outpost Firewall Pro's self-protection technology aims at detecting attempts to modify/disable its services or hinder program protection and is accoladed by Comparison Testers as being capable and sophisticated at detecting all known methods of disabling it without user permission. The testing site Matousec.com^[6] (performing a test-set of leak-tests to all known software including PC firewalls), consistently gives Outpost Firewall Pro its highest ratings in PC firewalls independent comparisons. Outpost Firewall Pro has more than 30 awards in 15 countries in computer media and test labs since 2002^[7].

The product was also licensed^[8] by several security software publishers in 2003-2010: Sophos (UK, USA), Lavasoft (Sweden), Canon (Japan), Bullguard (UK), CAT-QuickHeal (India), Novell (USA), AVG (Czech Republic) and others.

Versions

• Outpost Firewall Pro: A shareware personal firewall with inbound-outbound PC program actions control and port stealthing plus anti-spyware and web surfing security plus HIPS engine.
• Outpost Firewall Free: A freeware version which includes a web and local PC firewall (networking) with inbound-outbound program actions control and port stealthing plus HIPS engine.
• Outpost Security Suite Pro: includes all the Internet Security Suite features (personal firewall, anti-virus, anti-spam, web surfing security tools and host intrusion prevention system HIPS).
• Outpost Security Suite Free: Outpost Security Suite Free: free but limited edition for Internet Security Suite features (PC firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and host intrusion prevention system HIPS).

Criticism

Outpost Firewall has been criticized by some end users for being confusing or difficult to use^[9], possibly because of its features targeted on advanced PC users. Outpost can generate a large number of security alerts, which some experts believe will lead to an inexperienced end user habitually dismissing all alerts, even important ones. This firewall is preferred by experienced users as Agnitum's direction is to give the end user complete control to all aspects of their system to avoid unwanted changes by malicious software, disclosure of personal information and malware. In advanced security mode, Outpost's Component Control will notify the user every time a network enabled application has a changed component and Anti-Leak Control will notify the user whenever an application performs a potentially dangerous operation such as overwriting another application's memory space. In practice this can result in such a high number of alerts that they can quickly become intrusive. To mediate this, Outpost includes the option to apply validated pre-sets automatically, to allow for a secure configuration, and yet provide ease of use.

References

1. ^ http://free.agnitum.com/
2. ^ ImproveNet's description can be found at
3. ^ http://www.outpostfirewall.com/guide/the_outpost_gui/plugins/index.htm
4. ^ http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/developers.php
5. ^ unofficial Outpost users forum - see
6. ^ Matousec Transparent Security - PC security suites testing
7. ^ "Outpost Awards". Agnitum Ltd.. 2011. http://www.agnitum.com/news/awards.php. Retrieved 2011-02-06. 
8. ^ "Agnitum Strategic Partners". Agnitum Ltd.. 2011. http://www.agnitum.com/about/partners.php. Retrieved 2011-02-06. 
9. ^ http://www.spychecker.com/userfeedback/for_outpostpro.html

Footnotes

• [1] (Website Review and user ratings)
• [2] (UK top download Website Review)
• Bullguard License Agreement, saying that firewall is based on the Outpost
• Sophos to use Outpost Firewall technology from Agnitum
• Novell Client Firewall was based on Outpost Pro from Agnitum

External links

• http://www.agnitum.com/ (Outpost's official website)
• http://outpostfirewall.com/ (Unofficial Outpost users forum)
• http://www.top-windows-tutorials.com/Outpost-firewall-03.html (Flash video demonstrating Outpost Firewall alerts on a Windows Vista machine)
• http://download.cnet.com/Agnitum-Outpost-Firewall-Pro-2009/3000-10435_4-10076609.html?tag=mncol (CNet editor's product review)