The default Global Rules listed in the Global Rules tab within the Firewall Tab do not appear sometimes.
I first noticed this problem yesterday. There was nothing in the settings, so I restarted my computer and the default settings where listed. At a later point I checked again and the global rules where empty-no default rules, no custom rules.
Another thing, it appears that the website filter is also not working. I tested it by blocking youtube.com but I am still able to connect.
I created a test category and added youtube.com to it. Then I added a new rule with the category containing the youtube website, and made a rule for the users “Everyone.” There is the green icon showing that it is active, but still I am able to connect to youtube.
Do you have create rules for safe applications enabled under firewall and/or HIPS settings? If yes, then when new rules or existing rules are being created/updated, and you open the settings window while this is occurring, then all the rules will be blank until you close and re-open the settings window when the automatic rules are done being created.
Seeing that youtube redirects to https, https filtering currently only works on IE, Edge, Firefox, and Comodo Dragon/IceDragon. In an upcoming release they will switch to plugin based implementation which will support a wider range of browsers.
The global rules disappear very often. I have closed and opened it 5 times today at different times and they are blank- does this affect the firewalls ability to block connections?
Yes depending on how your global rules were initially set, if you where using block incoming connections then they will be allowed and will depend on the application rules to determine if an application is able to receive the connection request.