McAfee Firewall

The internet is home to a large variety of threats but also the same amount of security applications. McAfee Firewall is a tool you can use to protect your computer system while you are online. It aims to provide a stronger and more flexible security level than Windows Firewall.

You might encounter some problems when you are installing this product. In our case, the application froze and we had to restart it.

The user-friendly interface consists of McAfee Security Center, where you can view and access any installed McAfee components - VirusScan, Personal Firewall Plus, Privacy Service, or SpamKiller.

Personal Firewall Plus provides real-time protection for your computer against hackers. You can view the firewall summary (main, application, event or HackerWatch summary) and the Internet applications list (you can add a new allowed or blocked application and change permission level).

You can take a look at the event log (view current or archived logs, trace a particular event, trust or ban a specific address), or lockdown your computer (one click instantly blocks all network traffic, including browsing, email and McAfee update checks).

You can test your firewall for possible vulnerabilities to attacks, or trace the origin of a suspected attack.

In Options, you can configure alert settings (e.g. enable gaming mode) or advanced security settings (e.g. adjust the firewall security level), configure what events are logged, run setup assistance, or reset settings to default.

The Tools section allows you to manage trusted and banned IPs, view the network traffic monitor, and expose service ports to the outside world.

Overall, the program works great, and it has an extensive help file that explains every detail of McAfee Firewall. Since it is a flexible firewall, experienced users will definitely appreciate the fact that it grants them more control.

In conclusion, McAfee Firewall provides the level of security that your computer needs (although it could welcome some minor improvements), and it does so by using a low amount of system memory. However, the application is suitable for older versions of Windows, showing incompatibility towards the latest versions.