Comodo Firewall Pro

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Comodo Firewall Pro

Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0 under Windows Vista
Developed by	Comodo Group
Latest release	3.0.25.378 / May 30, 2008 (2008-05-30); 15 days ago
OS	Microsoft Windows
Genre	Firewall
License	Freeware
Website	www.personalfirewall.comodo.com

Comodo Firewall Pro (CFP; previously COMODO Firewall) is a freeware firewall developed by Comodo Group that provides protection on a Microsoft Windows operating system from both inbound and outbound attacks. While on a 2006 independent review comprised of outbound application filtering tests and leak tests, version 1.1.005 gained only a medium score,^[1] on another independent review based on leak tests in 2008, version 3.0.21.329 received 100% on all tests, the highest rating along with Online Armor Personal Firewall 2.1.0.119^[2] Version 3.0 includes HIPS (Host Intrusion Prevention System) technology, to protect a computer from unknown attacks.

1 Version History
- 1.1 Version 2 and 3
2 Criticism
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Version History

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[edit] Version 2 and 3

Key:	Old Version	Current Version

Major version	Minor version	Release date	Supported OS	Significant changes
Version 2^[3]	2.0.0	Unknown	32-bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003; Windows Vista and 64-bit versions of Windows not supported	Automatic Updater, Application Component Authentication, Windows Security Center integration, Self Protection against termination of critical firewall processes, Error Reporting interface, improved graphical user interface
	2.1.0	Unknown		Monitor COM/OLE requests, automatically approves safe applications, improved zone modification
	2.2.0	Unknown		Improved display settings, passes leak test^[4]
	2.3.4	Unknown		Reduced Memory Usage; fixed bugs causing Windows to freeze, Log Size selection to be forgotten after a reboot; will now use the default browser instead of Internet Explorer, added defense for own registry keys and files against malware tampering
	2.3.5	Unknown		Fixed startup delay if Terminal Services service is disabled
	2.3.6.81	Unknown		Fixed Network monitor rules not loaded during system boot; fixed crashes when a ShellExecute hooking software(SuperAdblocker, counterspy etc.) is installed; fixed tray icon showing wrong tooltip text; fixed other bugs reported by users
	2.4.16	Unknown		COMODO Firewall rebranded as COMODO Firewall Pro; Added 13 languages support including Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, French, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (Continental), Russian, Spanish (LA), Spanish (Spain), Swedish, Turkish; Added an optional system tray icon animation; activation does not require the user to activate the license, CFP now verifies the digital signature of its own applications; Reduced the false positive rates for the application behavior analysis; fixed various bugs
	2.4.17	Unknown		Fixed vulnerabilities addressed in http://www.matousec.com/info/advisori...; fixed incompatibility problem with ArovaxShield; fixed some user-reported bugs; German language support added
	2.4.18	Unknown		Updated help for multi-languages installation
Version 3^[5]	3.0	22 November 2007	32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Vista; Windows 2000 not supported.^[6]	Added support for 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Server 2003 and Vista, but removed support for Windows 2000; New Defense + Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS) Control; improved firewall engine; new graphical user interface; improved security rules interface; improved application behavior analysis; added new ‘Training Mode’ and 'Clean PC' Mode; Windows Security Center integration in both Windows XP and Vista; improved error-reporting to Comodo Currently, including May's version update, it still causes the computer to reboot when starting games that use gameguard as an anti-cheating device.

[edit] Criticism

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Although appreciated for being released as freeware, there is a growing community of users frustrated by the lack of developer support in correcting known issues in the versions 2.x. An example is the high CPU usage by CPF.EXE due to input/output processing for writing to a log file, which has been a known issue since February 2007.^[7]

Additionally, there are a few serious vulnerabilities in the firewall's design which can be exploited locally, meaning that, while the firewall's protection remains solid, a malware can be designed to shut down or bypass the firewall's control functions if it somehow makes it onto the computer. Several other critical vulnerabilities are known which have not been disclosed. All are as of 2.4.18.184 still unpatched.^[8] There is uncertainty as to whether they will be fixed in version 2.5 or not, but an administrator on the beta forum has stated that version 3 should not have any critical bugs left. So far no tests have been conducted on CFP 3.^[9] There is currently extremely little or no malware whatsoever designed to thwart CFP, largely due to it not being as widespread as other security solutions.