Agnitum Outpost Personal Firewall Pro 2.1

Zone Labs has sensibly chosen the all-in-one route to protecting your PC with the ZoneAlarm Security Suite, but there are still plenty of people who want a dedicated software firewall and their own choice of anti-virus software. Agnitum is more than happy to step in, with this update to its A-Listed firewall brimming with promise.

Outpost's interface remains the same, as do the detailed database-driven logging and reporting features, but there are some key improvements. First up is the Active Content Filtering, which now protects against more than the malicious use of ActiveX, Java applets, Java and VBScripts on web pages by adding Flash animations, hidden frames, external active content, and 'scripting' ActiveX.

Outpost doesn't forget to provide the same levels of control when it comes to active content within email and attachments either. In terms of alerts, Outpost has generally done its job without drawing attention to irrelevant matters. In response to feedback, however, a visual alerts feature now informs users without a flood of inconsequential warnings.

The firewalls at the core of both Outpost and ZoneAlarm are pretty similar: they do an equally effective job of protecting your data and the integrity of your PC. But where the ZoneAlarm Security Suite leaps ahead with the addition of anti-virus, IM security and web-content filtering components, Outpost has basic keyword-driven content filtering and decent ad-blocking by way of the plug-in architecture, and that's pretty much it.

However, if all you're looking for is solid software firewall protection then it boils down to personal interface preference, support issues and impact on system resources. Outpost wins on this last count and matches ZoneAlarm on the others, and also offers a five-user 'family licence' for just £68. As such, we have no hesitation in recommending it as our standalone firewall product of choice.

Author: Davey Winder