The Pluses and Minuses of 64-bit Vista Security

Here's our Security Insight for November. The topic is 64-bit Vista Security.

Microsoft’s Windows Vista was released almost a year ago. In the run-up to the launch, Bill Gates pledged to make Vista security the number one priority for the company. By writing code that was secure by design and implementation, the intention was to render the OS impermeable to the sophisticated malware and remote intrusion attacks that dogged its predecessor, Windows XP. Microsoft spent five full years creating the new OS from scratch and, by the time it hit the market in late January 2007, it was already two years later than originally planned.

Read more and share your thoughts in this blog.

Igor Pankov,

Product Marketing Manager,
Agnitum

Fresh bug-fix for Outpost Firewall Pro and Outpost Security Suite Pro 2008

Outpost Firewall Pro and Outpost Security Suite Pro 2008 go hand in glove in their continued improvement. As you remember, the hot-fix based on the final release picture appeared just two days after the product launch - on October 24, 2007. One more followed on November 2 and the latest was uploaded just yesterday.

The corrections to the standalone product were also applied to the all-in-one solution as usual.

Here's the list of resolved problems, just to mention a few:

• Outpost monitor and Outpost Feedback were not registered in startup entries
• Outpost Security Suite could block installation of services
• Information about crashes could not be sent to Agnitum
• Error 14001 during installation
• Rules were applied incorrectly in some cases
• Address macros could be incorrectly resolved in rules
• Error while importing LAN settings from Outpost Firewall 4.0
• Monitor could freeze on uninstalling Outpost Security Suite
• Web pages content could be blocked/corrupted (GZIP decoding issue)

You can view the entire history of changes at http://www.agnitum.com/products/security-suite/history.php or http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/history.php depending on the product.

Don't hesitate to download either OSS or OFP and check the difference.

Alexey Belkin

Chief Software Architect

Agnitum

Outpost Firewall Pro 2008 Scores 100% in Matousec Leaktests

We are glad to announce that a few days ago Outpost Firewall Pro (OFP) 2008 came out on top in the most recent Personal Firewall Analysis tests performed by Matousec Transparent Security (www.matousec.com). Outpost beat out more than 40 other personal firewalls and security suites, gaining the coveted 100 % efficiency rating in the leaktests.

Matousec Transparent Security tested the security software products against all currently-recognized leaktests, as well as against their own variations based on existing tests. Detailed results are available at http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php.

According to the recent Matousec’ study “Outpost Firewall Pro 2008 6.0.2162.205.402.266 fulfils the promised perfection. This means that Outpost also scores [the maximum] 9625 points, which is 925 points more than its previously tested version. ”

Alexey Belkin
Chief Software Architect
Agnitum Ltd.

Outpost Pro 2008 Product Fixes Ready

Last Friday, we released the bug-fixing versions of Outpost Pro software correcting many of the problems our users have encountered following the October release. We worked hard to resolve the problems in a most expeditious manner and are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Outpost Pro Product Line:
Current version: 6.0.2168.211.415.268
Release date: November 02, 2007

Outpost Firewall Pro:
Download
Changelog (history of changes)

Outpost Security Suite Pro:
Download
Changelog (history of changes)

Thanks for your feedback and patience,
Alexey Belkin,
Chief Software Architect
Agnitum