Ten questions to Firewall' Developer: Soft4Ever

October 18, 2001

The creators of the Look'n'Stop firewall answer PC Flank' questions about their product and Internet Security.

PC Flank:
There are many firewalls on the market. What distinguishes Look'n'Stop firewall from the other products?
Look'n'Stop team:
Look 'n' Stop (http://www.looknstop.com) is the easiest personal firewall on the market. It provides a double filtering at Application and Internet levels. Application filtering acts against trojan programs: only softwares authorized by the user can transmit data to the Internet. Internet filtering comes with a default ruleset that makes it very easy to use. Internet filtering rules can be imported and exported, thus allowing easy update of protections. Look 'n' Stop provides a detailed log and analysis of inbound and outbound data packet. New internet filtering rules can easily be added from the log list. Look 'n' Stop is the cheapest commercial personal firewall. It is downloadable in a few seconds (420 kB only) and is installed in only one click.

Pc Flank:
What was your major goal for Look'n'Stop firewall when you started developing it?
Look'n'Stop team
Develop the #1 worldwide internet security software for personal computers. Get a firewall that can both be used very quickly and easily by beginners and that can be highly configured by advanced users.

PC Flank:
How do you rank your product with the other personal firewalls?
Look'n'Stop team:
Look'n'Stop is the most easy to use personal firewall and the most secure.

PC Flank:
What firewall software do you consider your rivals?
Look'n'Stop team:
ZA, Tiny, Conseal

PC Flank:
What features should every firewall have?
Look'n'Stop team:
Very easy to use for beginners and enhanced options for advanced users. Application filtering and masquerading protection against Trojan programs. Internet filtering at the lowest level inside the operating system (including Ethernet for instance). Import and export of Internet filtering rules for easy configuration upgrades. Detailed log of events open to third parties tools.

PC Flank:
What features do you plan to add to Look'n'Stop firewall
Look'n'Stop team:
Application filtering on selected ports, Content filtering (cookies, adds, ActiveX, …), Remote administration, Spanish version and other languages, Wizard rule creation, New user's requirements.

PC Flank:
What do you think is the future of personal firewalls?
Look'n'Stop team:
Protect themselves against hacking, Detection of the new generation of Trojans, Anti root-kit features.

PC Flank:
Why are so many firewalls being developed worldwide? Does it mean the industry can't produce "the perfect software"?
Look'n'Stop team:
One reason for the large number of personal firewalls is that the market is still emerging. And other reason is that the balance between beginners features and advanced users features is not easy to find: it provides opportunities to several editors to find the good mix between easiness, configurability and efficiency.

PC Flank:
What security measures do you recommend to all Internet users?
Look'n'Stop team:
Use a personal firewall and an anti-virus is mandatory for Internet users;
Not installing Netbeui, install netbios & file sharing if absolutely needed and protect the shares with passwords;
Watch and Apply security patches from Microsoft;
Be careful with mail attachments, never execute attached programs;
Do not buy online on web sites you do not trust;


PC Flank:
What major threats from the Internet should ordinary users be aware of?
Look'n'Stop team:
A permanent Internet connexion can be scanned easily from the outside
Trojan horse program can transmit your personal data to the outside;
File sharing without password is dangerous;
Flood attacks can overload your Internet connection;
The privacy is not guaranteed by Internet browser;
New virus appear every day: virus protections must be updated periodically;


Look'n'Stop official web site:
http://www.looknstop.com/