Freedom Firewall Reviewer's Comments

Freedom Internet Security and Privacy will now be reviewed in the Internet Security Suite section of our site.

Freedom Internet Security and Privacy by Zeroknowledge has the potential to be a fine software firewall program. If you are just a beginner looking for a basic firewall, Freedom Internet Security can keep your computer stealth (hidden online) and monitor incoming and outgoing data—the basic roles of a firewall.

Feature Set:  

With Freedom Firewall, you can set rules to block sensitive information from leaving your computer. Under Keyword Alert, you can make a list of words you'd like to block from download. Freedom Internet Security also will allow you to place extra protection on your personal information (such as credit card information) to hamper hacker access.

If you're willing to spend some extra money, Freedom Firewall can protect your computer further with anti-virus protection, parental control software and pop-up blocker software add-ons. There is a separate fee for each.

Ease of Use:  

We had some compatibility issues with Outlook 2003 and Freedom Firewall. Even though permissions were set to allow Outlook 2003 and Common Client access, we couldn't send emails (we had no trouble receiving emails). After several attempts, a "close down" window appeared in Freedom Firewall; we closed the program. After we uninstalled Freedom Firewall we were able to send email again.

Ease of Installation:  

Freedom Firewall is easy to install.

Reliability:  

We performed several tests when evaluating each firewall program, including PC flank, leak test, PC Audit, and others. Freedom Firewall failed several of the tests we tried. Reliability is inconsistent.

Help/Support:  

One of Freedom Firewall's flaws is that help documentation is only available online. This is a problem if your Internet access is down and you need help.

Summary:  

Freedom Firewall is a fair software firewall program. It automatically keeps your computer stealth (hidden) while you're accessing the Internet, but the program has some reliability hiccups. Several times we ran into compatibility problems and had to restart our router just to use the software.