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I'm using Windows 7 and would like to have a feature like Little Snitch on the Mac that alerts you whenever a program on your computer makes an outgoing connection.

Description of Little Snitch from its website:

A firewall protects your computer against unwanted guests from the Internet. But who protects your private data from being sent out? Little Snitch does!

As soon as you’re connected to the Internet, applications can potentially send whatever information they want to wherever they want.

Sometimes they do this for good reason, on your explicit request. But often they don’t. Little Snitch allows you to intercept these unwanted connection attempts, and lets you decide how to proceed.

Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an outgoing Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge. Little Snitch runs inconspicuously in the background and it can also detect network related activity of viruses, trojans and other malware.

Little Snitch provides flexible configuration options, allowing you to grant specific permissions to your trusted applications or to prevent others from establishing particular Internet connections at all.

So you will only be warned in those cases that really need your attention.

Is there a program like Little Snitch for Windows?

Community
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Charles Scowcroft
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7 Answers7

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I always preferred NetLimiter over any other solution I've tried.

NetLimiter used to be only about bandwidth control and it still shines at that. But a personal firewall feature was added later on.

What primarily distinguishes it from the Windows firewall is that it will not allow any connection attempt to succeed before you decided how you want to handle it. For example:

enter image description here

I have all the options I need right there in that dialog.

  • All connection details.
  • Clicking Connection Info provides access to necessary tools to make the decision if the connection is allowed: enter image description here
  • You can create a permanent rule to allow or deny the process to connect.
  • You can allow the process to connect for as long as it lives. If it is restarted, you'll be asked again.
  • And finally I can allow or deny the connection.

The only way NetLimiter could be better suited for me was if it was free. But, sadly, it isn't. Luckily though, it seems to cost exactly the same as Litte Snitch.

Oliver Salzburg
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6

I use Windows Firewall Control.

And its Free

Moab
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Would Comodo or other firewalls that do egress monitoring / filtering do the trick?

Eric White
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3

OK answers, but as a long time little snitch user, I think I have better possibilities for you :

1 - Zone Alarm : that i've been using for years and is very similar to little snitch (two way communication control). 2 - Outpost security suite: I hear good things of this product and a free version is available.

Have fun,

deijmaster
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3

Sorry, but Zone Alarm is nothing like Little Snitch – it fails to show full activity of a program's connection. It just says "Connecting to 127.0.0.1" or "Program attempting to connect to the internet". Zone Alarm Paid version has more information like Little Snitch.

You could always use netstat and Windows' built-in firewall. Just tell Windows Firewall to not allow any connections – but still Little Snitch has a much easier to use interface and shows all incoming and outgoing connections even when they are allowed. A very useful function indeed.

In Windows there is a nice function similar to Little Snitch. Open up Windows Task Manager (one of the most important programs in Windows), then click on the Resource Monitor button. Click on the Network tab. This will show you all ports in use, TCP connections, active connections and how much traffic they are using.

Likewise you can use netstat to see some of the same information in the CMD. Don't forget that firewalls and anti virus applications can cause problems and slow down your PC, so if you're playing video games or crunching numbers, turn them off.

slhck
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anon
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Another sophisticated firewall product is Online Armor Free that can be downloaded from MajorGeeks.

This is a somewhat geeky but complete product that is also a Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS).

From Best Free Firewall Protection :

It has a unique feature called "run safer" that allows you to selectively set risky applications (web browsers, office software, readers/viewers, instant messengers, email or news programs, multimedia software, download managers, etc.) to run as if under a limited user account. It minimizes popup alerts over time with its automatic list of safe programs, your on-demand scans with its safety check wizard, and your responses to popup alerts, especially in cases where you tell it to remember your decisions and have it treat programs as trustworthy.

And finally, there is Little Snitch for WIndows, a commercial product for 24.96$ :

Like Little Snitch, FortKnox gives you complete overview of all incoming and outgoing network communication in an intuitive user interface. 15 days free trial - fully functional.

harrymc
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I've used as ZoneAlarm, as Comodo. But since I started using Jetico Personal Firewall, I have no more additional needs. It's very comprehensive and convenient firewall which is powerful enough for a professional! You may check it out by yourself: http://www.jetico.com/firewall-jetico-personal-firewall/

I have no idea why it's not so popular yet...

Iurii
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