I frequently get asked if Microsoft's Windows Firewall is a good firewall. Here's my response: Windows Firewall works well as an inbound firewall, but it does not do outbound blocking. It's free with Windows and worth every cent. It does work. I took off ZoneAlarm, Tiny Firewall, and McAfee host-based firewalls about two years ago to see if Windows Firewall works. I do a lot of traveling and my multiple laptops I frequently get asked if Microsoft’s Windows Firewall is a good firewall. Here’s my response:Windows Firewall works well as an inbound firewall, but it does not do outbound blocking. It’s free with Windows and worth every cent. It does work. I took off ZoneAlarm, Tiny Firewall, and McAfee host-based firewalls about two years ago to see if Windows Firewall works. I do a lot of traveling and my multiple laptops are exposed to malicious code and hackers all the time. The result?After two years, no hackers or malware got by it. It does what it claims to do. With that said, it is a very basic firewall and many other firewalls, including ZoneAlarm do a much better job. On the positive side, it doesn’t interfere with or slow down legitimate operations nearly as much as the other firewalls.Here are Windows Firewall deficiencies: -Inbound blocking only-No alerting -No signature recognition of attacks (i.e. a port scan will never be identified as a port scan in the log)-Crappy log file format (hard to read and understand for the beginner-Max log size is 32 meg.-No way to copy log to another place without turning off firewallWith all of this said, Microsoft’s Windows Firewall does work at what it says it does. It’s a great firewall for people who would never install another firewall. Related content analysis The 5 types of cyber attack you're most likely to face Don't be distracted by the exploit of the week. Invest your time and money defending against the threats you're apt to confront By Roger Grimes Aug 21, 2017 7 mins Phishing Malware Social Engineering analysis 'Jump boxes' and SAWs improve security, if you set them up right Organizations consistently and reliably using one or both of these approaches have far less risk than those that do not. By Roger Grimes Jul 26, 2017 13 mins Authentication Access Control Data and Information Security analysis Attention, 'red team' hackers: Stay on target You hire elite hackers to break your defenses and expose vulnerabilities -- not to be distracted by the pursuit of obscure flaws By Roger Grimes Dec 08, 2015 4 mins Hacking Data and Information Security Network Security analysis 4 do's and don'ts for safer holiday computing It's the season for scams, hacks, and malware attacks. But contrary to what you've heard, you can avoid being a victim pretty easily By Roger Grimes Dec 01, 2015 4 mins Phishing Malware Patch Management Software Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe