Previously I’ve answered your question on my opinion about which is the best antivirus program. After that article, people has started asking me which one is the best firewall that can protect their computer from hackers. Honestly, I’ve never tried any firewall software before because I don’t want to put any more load on my computer. Even if I have experience with some firewall products, I can never be qualified to judge which is the best firewall program. However, I will still try my best to answer your question.

I found a website called Matousec and they run a project called Firewall Challenge. This project examines personal firewalls, Internet security suites and other similar products for Windows OS that implement process-based security. They have the best answer on which firewall software gives the best protection against spying, data and identity theft.

Matousec tested 25 products with Security Software Testing Suite. SSTS is a set of tools used for testing personal firewalls and Internet security suites for Windows. SSTS is based on the idea of leak-tests, small independent programs that attempt to bypass an outbound protection of the security software. SSTS also consists of many independent programs that test specific features. SSTS is published with its source code, which makes the testing as transparent as possible.

Here are the 25 personal firewall or security suite that has been put to test:

AVG Internet Security 8.0.93

Avira Premium Security Suite 8.1.00.206

BitDefender Internet Security 2008 11.0.16

BullGuard Internet Security 8.0.0.13

Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0.21.329 – FREE

ESET Smart Security 3.0.621.0

Filseclab Personal Firewall 3.0.0.8686 – FREE

FortKnox Personal Firewall 2008 3.0.195.0

iolo Personal Firewall 1.5.2.7

Jetico Personal Firewall 2.0.1.5.2216

Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0.1.325

Look ‘n’ Stop 2.06

McAfee Internet Security Suite 2008 9.1.108

Norton Internet Security 2008 15.5.0.23

Online Armor Personal Firewall 2.1.0.119 – FREE

Outpost Firewall Pro 2008 6.0.2302.264.0490

PC Tools Firewall Plus 3.0.1.9 – FREE

Privatefirewall 6.0.11.30

ProSecurity 1.43

Rising Personal Firewall 2007 19.66.0.0

Steganos Internet Security 2008 7.5.509

Sunbelt Personal Firewall 4.5.916

System Safety Monitor 2.3.0.612

Windows Live OneCare 2.0.2500.22

ZoneAlarm Pro 7.0.462.000

I was surprised by the result of the tests because the only 2 product that scored perfect (100%) against 62 tests are Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0.21.329 and Online Armor Personal Firewall 2.1.0.119 which is FREEWARE. This test results really puts those paid firewall software to shame… As for Kaspersky Internet Security, it manage to take the 5th place which is pretty good. You can check out the results at this page.

It’s very hard for me to tell you which firewall would work better because every computer is different. Some would have better performance with Comodo Firewall and some Online Armor. It’d be an endless debate if trying to compare which is better. If you don’t believe me, try doing a search in Google on “Comodo Firewall vs Online Armor” and you’ll find that there are some forums that has a discussion on this topic up to 8 pages long with no conclusion. As far as I can see, Online Armor has an older but easier to use interface. As for Comodo, it has a better looking interface with many settings. Comodo supports Windows Vista but Online Armor don’t. One thing I don’t like about free version of shareware is some features will be disabled.

Why don’t you try both Comodo Firewall and Online Armor and tell me which you prefer and why. Just remember not to run both Firewall at the same time. You can either uninstall either one or simply disable it.

[ Download Comodo Firewall PRO | Online Armor FREE ]