Lab

Personal firewalls

Firewalls have become a necessity. This is thanks in part to the always-on nature of the 21st century Internet, but the need for a firewall doesn't just apply to broadband users. Although they're a more attractive target, thanks to the sheer amount of bandwidth that can be appropriated, dial-up users aren't immune either. Their 'almost always on' connectivity fingerprint - thanks to flat-rate, time-unlimited pricing plans - is similarly attractive.

The stark truth is that if you're connected to the Internet, someone out there wants to get connected to you. Maybe they want to install a RAT (Remote Access Trojan) to help them appropriate bandwidth and resources for pirating of 'WaReZ' or nefarious hacking activity, or perhaps they want to nose around your private data and relieve you of your identity to commit credit card fraud, or simply because an open door is an invitation many immature kids with access to readily downloadable tools just can't resist.

But the liberation of broadband has led to an explosion in the availability of cheap software or 'personal' firewalls that bring the promise of system security to the masses. We test ten of the leading personal firewalls to see if they've shaken off the image of being both unstable and providing only an illusion of protection.