How would you rate Comodo Personal Firewall? and what to improve?

[Guest]

[AUser]

Hello,

im using Comodo Firewall since a long, but I have to report a bad kind of acting of your 3rd Version.

If you have installed Active Defense+ and you allowed a application to pass through, this application changes,
the 3rd versions allows this application to pass without a notification or prompt.

This is a realy bad fact - lets say in case of a modified program cause of hooks through viruses, malware and so on this would allow them to pass without problems. A good firewall should remind bytes, creation time and last modification time - I would sharp advice to make such checks of programs/executables of any type - even of cost of some ram to save this informations.

Best regards,
A User

[damascus]

This was one of my favorite pieces of software until it became bloatware. Why do developers always think it is okay to try to turn their product into something that "does it all", instead of concentrating on performing 1 function better than anyone else?

I quit using ZoneAlarm when it became useless bloatware and I found Comodo.

Now I have to look for a new firewall. I'm very disappointed.

[panic]

Bloatware??

The apps reduced in disk usage, halved in resource usage and sped up.

Exasctly how tiny do you want it to be  

[Commodus]

Bloatware??

The apps reduced in disk usage, halved in resource usage and sped up.

Exasctly how tiny do you want it to be  

Damascus want's to say that Comodo CFP 3 does too much in his opinion, that it has too many features he doesn't use.

[axl]

Damascus want's to say that Comodo CFP 3 does too much in his opinion, that it has too many features he doesn't use.

Because of the business model that supports CFP's development, the desires and needs of its users is inevitably relegated to second place in Comodo's list of priorities.

[Melih]

Because of the business model that supports CFP's development, the desires and needs of its users is inevitably relegated to second place in Comodo's list of priorities.

Actually that is totally the opposite!

The business model we have requires to gain user's trust by delivering security products that our users will like and love! And we can't do that unless we listen to them and build our products accordingly!

So I respectfully disagree!

Melih

[zvaragabor]

"what to improve?"

The logging. Comodo Staff pls read the topic i linked below:
http://forums.comodo.com/empty-t19508.0.html
Thanks!
Cheers

[AnotherOne]

About bloatware - what good is a firewall that can be terminated by a virus or trojan?  With the HIPS that comes with CFP you don't need the full blown antivirus pay-by-subscription protection monster program because it is all there in CFP.  You do need the AV scanner, but the rest is not necessary.  Since the firewall plus HIPS is as small as most other firewalls alone, and you can use a small AV, you end up saving both RAM and cash.  And you can fine-tune CFP if you are inclined to spend a bit of time learning about protecting your computer.  I have recently dumped a top-rated security suite because it was a real resource hog.  Slow to boot, slow to shut down, and lots of RAM when running.  By comparison, CFP is a bargain on all counts.

[a.mutu10]

I think most important thing to improve is an online database of firewall rules and threats, that users can download by updates.

The community could be made by trusted users (even from forum) or by submission from noral users and than   checked by comodo "masters".

This would be nice as an option "ON or OFF"... that way newbie users as me would download rules... instead of allowing every pop-up.. and pro users could prefer allow what they want.

I think most of users would like receive less pop-ups... (maybe outpost.. not the last of firewalls...has something like that already)



Another nice thing could be adding a spyware app inside of comodo... like spywareterminator (free) even if i don't see yet as a mature product... but could be better than nothing

[thehotburner]

HI
 I tried last version 3.0.18.309 and previous versions, but i was always obliged to uninstall it

I'm a security consultant with deep experience about such packages

The FW is potentially powerful but currently very harmful
If you leave active defense+ auto learning , you lose the control of your PC. All installed applications become unavailable  "Windows cannot access the specified device, path or......you may not have the appropriate
permissions to access the item".
If you aren't a PC expert, you're obliged to reinstall the OS (In this case XP PRO SP2 last updated).

In addition, as network firewall is very poor.  NO TCP flags handling, NO massive IP's group configuration, poor SPI, no Scan or serious attack alerts etc.
The rules configuration is dispersed in many points, instead of leaving only one menu for rule definition with all the necessary parameters (interface, protocol, direction, local and remote IPs and Ports(single,range,group), Log activation or not, TCP packet flags definition including CWR and ECE , Inclusion and Exclusion, with OR AND Not operators, possible alert message on video.

I hope to have given some suggestions for the future.

Awaiting your improvemet

Yours

[AnotherOne]

Hi thehotburner - My experience is not the same as yours.  There was no problem with Defense+ interfering with the rest of the system for me.  Maybe you have some other software installed that conflicts with CFP?  It is also possible that some basic system program like svchost.exe or explorer.exe was accidentally denied access rights in the initial learning process that the program goes through. 

I can only agree about the odd way that they have scattered the rules configuration process.  I can see that you may want to create a specific set of ports or IP addresses for use in several rules, but I find that there are very few Port Sets or Zones that I use more than once.  I suppose that it is messier to have the interface deal with several random ports/addresses and also a range or several ranges of ports/addresses in the rule definition section, but they could have put the dialogs all on the same page.

The only other item to note is the logging.  There is the option on the Miscellaneous page to choose Settings and then the Logging tab.  You can turn logging on or off there for both the firewall and Defense+.  The logging is also determined for the firewall by the rules that are written.  You can log allowed connections as well as the denied connections by editing the rule governing the application involved or for incoming connections, on the Global Rules tab.

I can't comment on the other deficiencies, but I do know that the firewall as it is currently, performs better than almost every other firewall available in handling malware. 

[emi3]

This may have been mentioned before,but in the latest version (3),
the system tray icon doesn`t change color when it`s set to "Block all"
or "Disabled".

I found this a very useful feature in previous versions.

[Warren]

I ran ZoneAlarm for years without difficulty.  Then I fell prey to all of the plaudits I was hearing about Comodo. I switched to it. I’ve had to uninstall it for the second time.  It wouldn’t permit IE7 to open.  Presumably it or something was blocking “domain.”  I tried to “Define a New Trusted Application,” but that didn’t work.  Hours of searching got me nowhere.  Comodo’s popups and settings are obscure and hard to understand.   After uninstalling Comodo (which wouldn’t open IE7) I turned on Windows Vista’s firewall and I’m back in business again.  Windows firewall gets a lot of flack but at least it allows access to the Internet. 

[kaweka]

Some weeks ago have expressed my euphoria regarding having found Comodo firewall.
On first look it makes professional impression.
Unfortunately it couldn't qualify to be used in my network.

First Comodo firewall doesn't remember the option "automatically start this application with windows
(recommended)". Affected: Vista Business 32bits.

Apart of above issue several weaknesses are causing the Comodo firewall in not user-friendly.
Please see my report:
https://forums.comodo.com/feedbackcommentsannouncementsnews/comodo_firewall_wishlist_v6-t15557.0.html;msg136738#msg136738
Well, point 3 is solved.

[SpotCheckBilly]

Hello all,

I've been using the firewall for about six months.  Previous to this I used (in order) Sygate, ZoneAlarm and Kerio (Sunbelt).

Sygate and ZoneAlarm were definitely easier to configure -- especially for inexperienced users.  Kerio gave me problems and I went back to  ZA until I discovered Comodo.  Configuration was a little daunting at first, but it actually worked quite well "right out of the box".  There were also a few issues when my AV software updated to its latest version (NOD32).

Things seem to be moving smoothly now that I have one request/suggestion.  I am quite vision impaired and the user interface is definitely NOT friendly to vision impaired folks. I don't know who decided that a light color on a white background for, well, anything was a good idea, particularly when coupled with minuscule text size.  Offering a larger text, higher contrast user interface would be very helpful.  Especially for doing any "fine tuning".

Other than that, I'm definitely happy with the firewall and I recommend it to all of my friends.

SpotCheckBilly

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