TechRadar Verdict
It’s only one part of your security toolkit – you need anti-virus too – but Comodo offers good protection against malicious apps.
Pros
- +
It’s free
- +
Enemies list is cloud based
- +
Safe browsing
Cons
- -
A bit vocal
- -
No virus protection
- -
May block URLs
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When some people describe the internet, they say it’s a jungle out there. And that’s true, if it’s a jungle where every single creature is lined up and tooled up, ready to attack you the second you arrived. The internet is so full of malicious software that it’s not a case of if an unprotected PC will get infected with something serious; it’s a case of how quickly it’ll happen.
Where to download: https://personalfirewall.comodo.com/
Type: Firewall
Developer: Comodo
Operating system: Windows
Version: 8
Enter Comodo (did you see what we did there? Comodo dragon? No? We give up), whose free firewall is designed to make sure your PC doesn’t become a statistic. It blocks malicious software from getting onto your PC, and if there’s already malware on your PC it stops it communicating with faraway villains.
Comodo Free Firewall offers safe web browsing and a clever sandbox feature that keeps new applications separated from Windows until it’s sure they’re safe, and it works on the basis of what’s called Default Denial. In plain English that means it assumes unknown software is guilty until proven innocent. The firewall knows the details of over two million safe apps, so the likelihood of a false positive flagging a reputable app is very low.
User experience
Like many free apps it’s a good idea to pay attention when you’re installing Comodo Free Firewall; if you don’t, you may discover a new browser that you didn’t ask for.
Once installed, Comodo Free Firewall is simple enough to use, if a little vocal – it tells you when files are okay as well as when they aren’t, but there’s a silent mode to turn off notifications – and the secure browsers are easy to access and use. The threats database lives in the cloud so you’re always using the most up to date version. That’s very important, because new threats emerge daily.
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