Hi Gang:
Hi Friends:
Here is an interesting read on the Vista firewall. As indicated above, I agree a great deal with what the author says. I have tried to configure the firewall to do some very basic things regarding outbound traffic, and, while I understand how it works at a slightly more than basic level, I could not disable everything I needed to get it working the way I want it too (i.e., without changing more things than I wanted given my level of experience with the firewall). For the most part, the instructions found online are a serious waste of time. Yes, they provide nice snips and discussion, but have most of the authors actually tried to configure the firewall with advanced settings? I doubt it.
Here is what I was able to accomplish. I was able to block all outbound without affecting our network negatively. Then, I was able to write "rules" that allowed me to connect with online sites that employ encryption, but I could never find a way to turn the encryption "requirement" off without, as indicated, going farther than comfortable given my level of experience with the firewall.
On the other side the coin, I was able to allow all outbound, but I could never write a rule, which seems like a simple enough thing to do, that would block "Leaktest" from getting through the firewall.
I have to wonder, why the firewall have to be so hard to configure when it comes to basic things. On the other side, maybe I got it right, and it just doesn't work too well. The good news is that Zone Labs ought to have their new free Vista-ready firewall out pretty soon. It is good at dealing with outbound.