Product: Norton Personal FireWall 2000 2.0
Company: Symantec
Website: http://www.symantec.com
Estimated Street Price: $49.95
Review By: Julien JAY

Introduction

Every Internet user is aware that their Internet connection is a potential risk source that grows if he stays online a lot of time. That’s why Symantec released last year its Norton Internet Security range of software dedicated to protect every Internet user. Norton Personal Firewall 2000 2.0 is in fact a lighted version of Norton Internet Security 2000 and doesn’t include any account management feature to protect family members nor Norton AntiVirus. Norton Personal Firewall 2000 2.0 is –only- a software firewall based on the WRQ’s AtGuard software. The aim of Norton Personal Firewall 2000 2.0 is to protect users from every kind of internet threat: hackers, malicious activeX or Java code, cookies,…. So here’s my complete review of this great product that works at least with Winndows 2000.

Features List

• Protect your PC from hackers. Your PC may already have been the target of hackers—and you wouldn’t even know it. Whether your Internet connection is always on or you just dial in occasionally, Norton Personal Firewall 2000 blocks hackers by controlling all Internet connections to and from your computer. It even alerts you to attempted intrusions, with a detailed event log that helps you determine the source of questionable connections. To guard against “Trojan horses” sending information to a hacker—or even legitimate applications sending reports of your activities to a web site without your knowledge—you can also specify which applications can and can’t access the Internet.
• Keep your personal information private. Norton Personal Firewall gives you the tools you need to keep your personal information truly private. Just indicate which information (such as credit-card numbers) should be protected,
  and Norton Personal Firewall will alert you if you try to send it to a web site that doesn’t protect communications with encryption. It can also prevent web servers from retrieving your email address or other potentially sensitive
  information in the background while you’re doing other tasks on the Internet.
• Prevent web sites from tracking your activities. “Cookies”—small text files stored on your PC by a web server—can make your surfing more convenient. They can keep your “shopping basket” current as you browse an
  online store, or eliminate the need to re-enter login information every time you visit a favorite site. But they also raise privacy concerns, because you may not want web sites to track your online activities. With Norton Personal Firewall, you can block cookies on a site-by-site basis. You can also block the automatic downloading of Java™ applets and ActiveX® controls the same way, permitting you to use your favorite web sites normally while protecting your PC from possible dangers on unfamiliar sites.
• Get instant protection. Right out of the box, Norton Personal Firewall 2000 automatically configures itself to provide security for your PC and privacy for your personal information. It immediately “hides” your PC and takes
  other steps to guard it against common hacking techniques. Exclusive Symantec technology dynamically adapts to your exact system: it recognizes the most common Internet applications on your PC and automatically
  configures firewall rules for each of them. Choose basic settings quickly with a “low/medium/high” security slider bar; advanced users can customize the settings to their exact preferences.
• Full support of Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0.

Setup

After inserting the Norton Personal FireWall 2000 2.0 CD an autoplay box appears, a click on the install button launches the setup which is build on the Microsoft Windows Installer technology with Wise Installer (not installshield, curious…). Setup takes approximately 5 minutes to complete! Hopefully like Norton Internet Security 2000 2.0 (not NIS 2000 1.0), Norton Personal Firewall 2000 2.0 perfectly supports and works under Microsoft Windows 2000 as well as Windows NT. This will bring Windows NT users safety on the net! At the end of the setup after you’ve completed the registration wizard you’re forced to run LiveUpdate to check and retrieve the latest available configuration rules. Once this is done and one reboot later you’re a protected Internet surfer!

Setup interface of Norton Personal Firewall 2000 2.0