More lately than ever before are we receiving emails from frustrated folks who want to protect their computers but are so confused by all the conflicting advice they receive, they install more security programs on their computers than they need and end up with a computer that's out-of-control and nearly impossible to use. So, what's the point? If every time you try to download something, install something, or use something on your computer, you're asked "Do you want to run this?" or "Do you want to install this?" or "Do you want to allow this program to access the Internet", the average person is going to become so confused that eventually they'll click "Yes" because otherwise they can't do anything with their PCs. And, that's a shame. And it's not their fault.

So-called experts, who may seem to be totally unbiased, are probably selling some sort of security program on their site - for which they are paid a commission. Nothing is wrong with that, unless you use fear tactics to sell - and that is just plain wrong.

Nothing is worse than the fear-mongering done by those who sell firewalls. They tell you everything but the truth. And the average person doesn't have enough information to know what or who to believe. It's only getting worse and it's only going to keep getting worse.

Why? Because fear-mongering works. It sells products and it sells politicians. And as long as the public buys into this scheme it's not going to change. You have to know who to believe and who to trust. If you trust everyone, someone is going to take advantage of you. If you trust no one then you're going to miss out on some good information.

So more than ever before it falls upon you, the average computer user to avail yourself of the many tools that are available by which you can separate fact from fiction.

Firewalls interfere with your computer and the programs on your computer more than any other single program. It's the fear-mongering thing again. For some reason, firewall companies think the more they "detect" the more functional you'll think they are - and the more protection you'll think they're providing. It's not so. It's just a game being played at your expense. Every single day, we answer emails from people who can't do this or that with their computers; or who cannot install this program or that program; or who cannot download or experience download time-outs or "corrupted" downloads - all because they have so many security programs installed and firewalls running they there's almost nothing they can do that doesn't pop-up some kind of warning.

The firewall business is a multi-billion dollar business. Because the firewall business is a very profitable business, the companies that make firewalls have a vested interest in scaring the living daylights out of you. They'll make you think if you don't have anything beyond the inbound protection provided by Windows XP's firewall - or if all you're using is the Vista firewall (outbound protection off by default) you're just one step away from having your credit card numbers, home address, kid's names, and shoe sizes plastered all over the Internet so any willing criminal can make your life miserable and take luxurious vacations at your expense. It's just not true!

What happens when you install a third-party firewall is this: Every program that attempts to make an outbound connection to the Internet (that hasn't already been "approved" by you) will cause a popup warning to appear on your screen. You'll be asked if you want to allow this program to connect to the Internet - Yes or No with an option to make Yes or No the default for the program. If you click "No" and chose to make "No" your default answer, you won't receive any warnings when the program attempts to connect the next time, your firewall will simply refuse the program's attempt to connect to connect to the Internet. Hence, if you say "No" when Outlook Express or Windows Mail, for example, tries to connect to the Internet, then you'll never get any mail, ever, until you figure out how to change the configuration of the firewall and reset it so that Outlook Express or Windows Mail has permission to connect to the Internet whenever it needs to.

On the flip side, there are normally so many of these popup warnings about programs trying to connect to the Internet, eventually people just click "Yes" because they just want to use their computers without all the hassles. This leads to a potential problem. If you click Yes to something that shouldn't be permitted, you might have really big problems. And how do you know what to allow and what to disallow? Are you willing to do the research necessary to know what each outbound connection is, why it needs to connect, and to what server it is connecting? Many everyday programs that you use, don't have names you can easily recognize. What if you received a warning that said, "msimn.exe is trying to connect to the Internet, do want to allow msimn.exe to connect to the Internet?" what would you answer? Do you know what msimn.exe is? It's Outlook Express. But many programs may have arcane names or parts that you don't recognize - but have legitimate, non-malicious reasons to connect to the Internet. Are you going to stop and research each one, or are you going to guess, or are you simply going to click "No" to each you don't recognize and "Yes" to each one you do.

Let's face it, many programs need access to the Internet, some need it to function, others, like anti-virus, need it to download and install updates. So, unless you're willing to research every outbound connection your computer is making to find out where it is connecting to, what is connecting, and why it is connecting, outbound protection isn't going to do you a lot of good.

If you follow basic computer security precautions: use a good anti-virus and update it frequently; use two good anti-spyware programs and update them frequently; don't click links in email with reckless abandoned; use Firefox if you're worried about active-x based downloads; and keep your Windows up-to-date with the latest patches and updates; you won't have to worry about keyloggers or trojans making outbound connections anyway.

Network Traffic capture tools, that log and then allow you to research all the outbound connections from your machine later, are available from many sites on the Web. They're not simple to use or understand. To analyze the data they capture requires an expert with knowledge of networking and network traffic. Are you an expert at analyzing network traffic? I didn't think so, Yet that is what you need to be if you're going to use a firewall with outbound protection or otherwise you'll simply be guessing on whether to click "Yes" to allow or "No" to disallow anything that you don't immediately recognize.

You don't want to spend your time on your computer analyzing network traffic and making sure that every connection your computer is making to the Internet is safe. Firewalls with outbound protection don't make decisions for you - you make the decision and therein lies the problem with outbound firewalls.

We don't recommend third party firewalls. We recommend you follow good, common sense, safe computer practices we outlined above. If you do, you won't have to spend your day clicking "Yes" or "No" or guessing at which is the right one to click. We do recommend you use the firewalls that come with Windows XP and Windows Vista which provide inbound protection.

As far as we can tell, third-party firewalls when installed on Windows XP and Windows Vista cause users more hassle and do not provide the extra-layer of protection they were designed to deliver.

Safe computing begins with the basics, anti-virus, anti-spyware, using care while browsing, turning on Windows built-in firewall and being very careful and thoughtful about links you click on - on the Web or in email. Your safety does not begin and end with a third-party firewall - as many "experts" would have you believe.

That's our stand on third-party firewalls. Third-party firewalls have crossed the line of common sense and are now running amok as they try to compete with each other for your dollar by being over-zealous and trying to detect more so-called "intrusions" than the other guy's firewall. But you're the one who's going to be stuck with the all frustrations and aggravations these over-zealous third-party firewalls can cause.

(One experts who agrees with us is Ed Larkin, a writer with PC World. You can read his compelling article on why you don't need a third-party firewall here.)

©2008 Cloudeight Information Avenue, Issue #325, April 19, 2008