I am considering "downgrading" from a 3rd Party firewall.
I know that the SecureAnywhere Firewall works in conjuction with the Windows Firewall and that both should be enabled. I also have read the support page and many post referring to the support page saying that the WSA + Windows Firewall combination will protect me from both inbound and outbound threats.
What I haven't been clear on is the question in the subject. Should outbound connections be set to block from within Windows Firewall? Does WSA need it to work properly or does it actually prevent it from working correctly? What does WSA want exactly?
Another bit of confusion is that between two systems, a Windows 8.1 and a Windows Vista, I have two different range of options. I've read a bit about why this is but what does it actually mean in terms of functionality? What does WSA actually do in regards to a potential unwanted outbound connection and in what manner will it interact with me if it doesn't know what I want it to do?
Should I Allow or Block Outbound Connections within Windows Firewall?
Hi strfam
Welcome to the Community Forums.
Let's try and another your questions one by one:
1. Should outbound connections be set to block from within Windows Firewall?
No, just leave Windows Firewall settings at default and WSA will do the rest by default.
2. Does WSA need it to work properly or does it actually prevent it from working correctly?
WSA does not need the Windows Firewall outbound to work properly but as you cannot just have the inbound element (which is required as WSA does not filter inbound connections at all) you need to have the Windows Firewall enabled...and it does not prevent WSA from working correctly outbound.
3. What does WSA want exactly?
As I stated above it just needs the WIndows Firewall enabled with default settings.
To help with understanding please see this KB article (if you have not yet found or read it). And also if I may quote Joe Jaroch, previously the Head of Development at Webroot when he said :
"The only "help" that WSA receives from the Windows firewall is inbound protection. There is only really one way to write an inbound firewall and the Windows firewall covers it off perfectly fine. No third party firewall is going to be more effective so we instead put our focus in other areas where we could actually make new innovations."
4. Another bit of confusion is that between two systems, a Windows 8.1 and a Windows Vista, I have two different range of options. I've read a bit about why this is but what does it actually mean in terms of functionality?
Again, to quote Joe Jaroch on this:
"The firewall in Windows 8 is much easier to work with than previous platforms because of the built in OS controls. Every vendor needs to use the same APIs now (the older methods are deprecated), but that's exactly why we aren't doing it currently - no matter what vendor wraps the APIs, it will be exactly the same underlying calls which are built into the OS, and you can use the OS UI to do the same job if you want to customize it.
The reason why we have the functionality on Windows 7 and not Windows 8 is because Microsoft doesn't expose the same normalized interfaces on Windows 7 (or require vendors to use the new APIs)."
5. What does WSA actually do in regards to a potential unwanted outbound connection and in what manner will it interact with me if it doesn't know what I want it to do?
With WSA set with default settings it will still prompt you for your input in terms of how to hand;e the outbound connection attempt. The only difference between Vista & Win8.1 is that you cannot review or amend those permissions once set (at least at present, as far as I know).
Apologies for the lengthy reply but I hope that I have managed to cover all questions...if not or if you have any further one please post back.
Regards, Baldrick
Welcome to the Community Forums.
Let's try and another your questions one by one:
1. Should outbound connections be set to block from within Windows Firewall?
No, just leave Windows Firewall settings at default and WSA will do the rest by default.
2. Does WSA need it to work properly or does it actually prevent it from working correctly?
WSA does not need the Windows Firewall outbound to work properly but as you cannot just have the inbound element (which is required as WSA does not filter inbound connections at all) you need to have the Windows Firewall enabled...and it does not prevent WSA from working correctly outbound.
3. What does WSA want exactly?
As I stated above it just needs the WIndows Firewall enabled with default settings.
To help with understanding please see this KB article (if you have not yet found or read it). And also if I may quote Joe Jaroch, previously the Head of Development at Webroot when he said :
"The only "help" that WSA receives from the Windows firewall is inbound protection. There is only really one way to write an inbound firewall and the Windows firewall covers it off perfectly fine. No third party firewall is going to be more effective so we instead put our focus in other areas where we could actually make new innovations."
4. Another bit of confusion is that between two systems, a Windows 8.1 and a Windows Vista, I have two different range of options. I've read a bit about why this is but what does it actually mean in terms of functionality?
Again, to quote Joe Jaroch on this:
"The firewall in Windows 8 is much easier to work with than previous platforms because of the built in OS controls. Every vendor needs to use the same APIs now (the older methods are deprecated), but that's exactly why we aren't doing it currently - no matter what vendor wraps the APIs, it will be exactly the same underlying calls which are built into the OS, and you can use the OS UI to do the same job if you want to customize it.
The reason why we have the functionality on Windows 7 and not Windows 8 is because Microsoft doesn't expose the same normalized interfaces on Windows 7 (or require vendors to use the new APIs)."
5. What does WSA actually do in regards to a potential unwanted outbound connection and in what manner will it interact with me if it doesn't know what I want it to do?
With WSA set with default settings it will still prompt you for your input in terms of how to hand;e the outbound connection attempt. The only difference between Vista & Win8.1 is that you cannot review or amend those permissions once set (at least at present, as far as I know).
Apologies for the lengthy reply but I hope that I have managed to cover all questions...if not or if you have any further one please post back.
Regards, Baldrick
Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete Beta Tester v9.0.24.49, imaged by Macrium Reflect v7.2
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