Comodo V4

This post was written by admin on March 15, 2010
Posted Under: Free Firewall,Free PC Security,Technology

Comodo V4 is a superb free pc security program available to home and business users. I last reviewed Comodo IS in February 2010 with V3.14 and was impressed with the way it works with little input required from the user.

This version was released on March 3, 2010.

In June 2009 Comodo achieved 96% in the Matousec Proactive Security Challenge, it now consistently achieves 100% along with PC Tools Firewall Plus V6 although V4 has not yet been tested but Comodo has more features and is also simple to use and will install on machines that are infected.

Before installing, turn ON the Windows Firewall and uninstall any other firewall that is installed. Comodo will disable the Windows Firewall once installed.

When installing, users have the option to install the antivirus or firewall individually and also a 30 day free trial of Comodo LivePCSupport. If you have another antivirus that you are happy with do NOT install the antivirus.

During the installation process if there are any incompatible programs users are prompted to uninstall them first as the firewall will not work correctly and may not even start.

Installation is simple and straightforward, although I declined to add the Hopsurf toolbar, making Ask.com my default search provider and changing my homepage to HopSurf - simply untick the boxes.

After installation a reboot is necessary to initialise the firewall components and this is standard with all firewalls.

Comodo also allows users to use Comodo's Secure Servers which use redundant DNS servers and this will hide your real IP address, a bonus for the security conscious users with an added layer of personal protection, this is the users choice as is participating in the Threatcast community.

The firewall references a list of over three million known safe applications and if a file is not on this safe list, the firewall immediately alerts you to the possibility of malware intrusion. This occurs before any malware can infect your computer and the popup will give you the option to Allow or Block. This can stop a lot of the malware that attempts to install itself onto users machines.

There is also an Installation Mode when installing new programs - less popups make installation simpler.

The real bonus with this version is the Sandbox. Many unknown programs are forced to run in the sandbox and are therefore isolated from the main drive and registry. Users can also right click a program and select to run it within the sandbox and in the case of fake antivirus and other rogue applications this is a real plus point as it is easier to block the program and terminate it completely without the usual adverse effects.

Defense+ protects all important areas of your computer, the drives, registry, monitor, keyboard and much more along with an advanced host intrusion prevention system.

Should you experience a large number of popups when installing programs, open the firewall interface and click on the Defense+ shield icon and click the Advanced settings on the left, lower the rights to Training Mode and click OK.

Download Comodo Internet Security here

Comodo Support Forum click here - registration required

Matousec Proactive Security Challenge Results click here

System Requirements:
Windows XP SP2 / Vista / Windows7 32Bit and 64Bit

The old interface was cleaner than the new version, but that is purely cosmetics. It will be interesting to see how it performs in tests and in realtime use it can have a few bugs that have not yet been sorted out.

The sandbox is a great idea, BUT not all unknown programs are forced to run in the sandbox, so it would be wise when installing new programs that could be rogue programs to right click them and select Run in Comodo Sandbox, if the program is clean and you trust it then close it and run it as normal.