IBM Internet Security Systems has announced the End of Life for BlackICE PC Protection (formerly known as BlackICE Defender) and BlackICE Server Protection (formerly known as BlackICE Defender for Server). The End of Sale date for these products is September 19, 2007. You will not be able to purchase BlackICE products after this date. We will update and support BlackICE products until September 29, 2008. These products will not be supported after September 29th, 2008.
BlackICE PC Protection by Internet Security Systems prevents intruders from accessing your computer, and that's the main job for a firewall. BlackICE PC Protection lacks the extra features that our top-ranked products offer; these give you added protection from Trojans, adware and intrusive cookies (data stored on your computer by websites you visit).
Firewall Features:
BlackICE PC Protection has some unique features, including the ability to block or trust a visitor. This tool allows you to block for an hour, a day, a month or forever—we liked the flexibility this offered.
BlackICE has some powerful filtering features. You can specify the exact type and duration for each rule you create and you can make these rules specific to a given port on your computer. Without getting into much networking terminology, you can block a certain kind of message from entering or exiting a given location on your computer. This tool helps you fine tune your filtering. You can also turn application control and communication control on or off.
With BlackICE PC Protection, you can customize your firewall to record all of your computer's interactions. But to use these records (logs) to track data to its origin you'll need to buy trace file decoding software.
Additional Security Features:
The BlackICE screen is not as simple to use as screens in other firewalls. BlackICE PC Protection has a good control panel and a useful history screen that lists past events and network traffic, but improvements would help push this firewall higher in the rankings.
Ease of Use:
BlackICE PC Protection's installation takes longer than other products. First, you must decide whether to install the firewall with the AP (Application Protection) on or off. Installing with AP on adds an extra 10 to 20 minutes to your install time, but installing with AP off is simple and fast. However, you will not have application protection until you turn AP on, so be certain to add this after you install.
BlackICE PC Protection by Internet Security Systems prevents intruders from accessing your computer, and that's the main job for a firewall. BlackICE PC Protection lacks the extra features that our top-ranked products offer; these give you added protection from Trojans, adware and intrusive cookies (data stored on your computer by websites you visit).
Firewall Features:
BlackICE PC Protection has some unique features, including the ability to block or trust a visitor. This tool allows you to block for an hour, a day, a month or forever—we liked the flexibility this offered.
BlackICE has some powerful filtering features. You can specify the exact type and duration for each rule you create and you can make these rules specific to a given port on your computer. Without getting into much networking terminology, you can block a certain kind of message from entering or exiting a given location on your computer. This tool helps you fine tune your filtering. You can also turn application control and communication control on or off.
With BlackICE PC Protection, you can customize your firewall to record all of your computer's interactions. But to use these records (logs) to track data to its origin you'll need to buy trace file decoding software.
Additional Security Features:
The BlackICE screen is not as simple to use as screens in other firewalls. BlackICE PC Protection has a good control panel and a useful history screen that lists past events and network traffic, but improvements would help push this firewall higher in the rankings.
Ease of Use:
BlackICE PC Protection's installation takes longer than other products. First, you must decide whether to install the firewall with the AP (Application Protection) on or off. Installing with AP on adds an extra 10 to 20 minutes to your install time, but installing with AP off is simple and fast. However, you will not have application protection until you turn AP on, so be certain to add this after you install.
