Labs

Outpost is blissfully easy to install, but it both exudes and inspires confidence. We recommend following the Installation Wizard, which points you towards automatic configuration of firewall rules for applications and network interfaces. You can skip this if you want, but it saves time and hassle later. The wizard doesn't take complete control; for example, you can view and edit the applications list following the system scan. We found this wasn't necessary and the defaults certainly proved to be well considered.

Once up and running, the confidence factor increases thanks to the Application Control Wizard checking with you when any new application attempts out-bound Internet access - and enabling one-click allow/block on this occasion or permanently.

The component control function works well, ensuring that not only are applications

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monitored for Internet activity but also their core components. This makes it much more difficult for a Trojan to operate by impersonating a trusted application. Outpost uses the Message Digest MD5 algorithm to calculate a checksum for each trusted application and authenticates this digital application signature each time the application is launched. We liked the database-driven event logging, which provided accurate information and enabled flexible reporting.

One of the unique selling points of Outpost is its modular open architecture, which sees the core capabilities implemented as DLL modules, independent in nature. This makes for a range of plug-ins that are loaded as standard, including an email attachment filter, content filtering, ad blocking, web history concealment and cookie control - all of which can be switched off.

Outpost also had the least impact upon system resources of all the firewalls here, despite an ability to handle up to 1Gb/sec of continual traffic and monitor 200 simultaneous connections.

Like ZoneAlarm, you shouldn't confuse the Pro product with the free version, which is lacking in numerous areas, not least support levels. A Pro licence gets you 24/7 tech support direct from Agnitum, whereas the free version enables you to access the user forums only. But the differences don't stop at the support desk: many of the more useful features are only available to Pro users.