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Folks,
I am a registered user of Outpost Pro 2.5 (family license purchased from an Australian reseller).
I currently have version 369/369, and have some problems with it. I'm using Windows XP Pro, with Firefox and Thunderbird. I was using IE6 and OE5, but the problem I'm explaining has existed for some weeks.
I use the Rules Wizard when I've installed software, and then once everything's settled down, turn the policy to Block Most. Most of the time, things work as they should. I try to keep the absolute minimum in the Trusted Applications.
But every now and then, usually with Outlook XP and IE, without warning certain applications are silently blocked. So, I turn on the Rules Wizard, and then the popups ask which rules to use. So far, so good. But the combo box with the rule presets JUST DISPLAYS "Other", nothing else, so have to allow everything for the program.
I can then later go to the application in Outpost, find it in the Trusted Applications, and change the rule. Usually then I can find more rules presets in the combo box, not just "Other", but usually still not all there should be (for example, there's nothing for newsreaders).
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And later, the problem comes back. What am I doing wrong?
Regards,
Michael Rochler
Canberra, Australia
Hmmm. Well, at the moment Outlook XP seems to get blocked from time to time, and usually only for checking and downloading email. I don't get much (non-spam) email, so don't notice until trying to send or get new email and nothing happens. Of course, I switch the policy to Rules Wizard, but if the preset rules combo only has the "Other" contents, then I don't particularly want to give the application too much access.
Sometimes in that situation I might temporarily place the application in "Trusted", then look in the log to see what sort of inward and outward traffic happens, exactly which ports and which protocols, etc, then edit the rules to allow just that sort of activity. That way, it's once again just partly trusted; but I'm no expert, and frankly, I shouldn't have to reset rules much unless programs have been installed/reinstalled.
It's the application apparently "forgetting" or "ignoring" the rules, together with the preset rules combo box sometimes having few or no presets besides "Other", that seems to be the problem in my case. AFAICT, other applications besides Outlook XP seem to be more set-and-forget.
I am about to replace Office XP with Office 2003 (which includes Outlook 2003), so one never knows, perhaps the problem will go away. In the meantime, I can always "Allow Most" for the few seconds I'm sending/downloading email. My computer is behind a Draytek ADSL modem and NAT router thingy, so I think I'm still comparatively safe.
There should be no need to use Allow Most to allow OL2003 to get mail. I use it and don't have to do that. You can make rules that do not require you do do that.
However, I have noticed that if I block network traffic when the screen saver comes on, OL gets a bit hung up if its on. My fix is to shut it down and start it up again. It seems Outlook doesn't like being blocked probably because it messes something up with its synchronization process. Outlook Express doesn't seem to suffer from this.
When you are in the Wizard Mode and there's no preset, then using the Custom does not give the application too much access. Rather, it can be very restrictive since you can limit traffic to specific ports and IP addresses. Personally, I use custom rules rather then the presets since I want to limit Outlook only to traffic that I have previously approved.
The problem with putting it in Allow Most is not that you will be attacked but what might go out of your PC if you happen to be infected.
Hi Michael,
Most often, blocking of applications is caused for the following reasons.
1. A user is operating in Rules Wizard Mode and accidentally selects the option for always blocking that application. This would not happen too often though, especially for experienced firewall users.
2. A user has accidentally denied access to a component that the application needs to use.
3. Some other feature like Active Content Blocking is causing the problem.
It is true that sometimes, even with a well defined ruleset, other traffic permissions will be required as you have discovered. When that happens, switching back to Rules Wizard is required. Sometimes that traffic may require traffic on non-standard ports that the Outpost Preset does not cover. In that case, you get the 'Other' option that you were mentioning. In that case, I generally verify that the traffic is legitimate and create a rule to allow the traffic for the appropriate protocol (TCP, UDP normally), direction (usually Oubound as Inbound connections require a lot of scrutiny), remote port, and allow or deny. Note that I do not specify remote host as traffic using this rule may be to multiple hosts.
In general, I define a rule for everything. But, the rules that I define are not remote host specific as that can cause problems. And I want to stress that defining inbound rules require that a user understands the necessity for that connection.
I hope that this advice has helped. If you need additional help, do not hesitate to ask as their are many experienced users on this forum.
Have a good day. :)
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Applications sometimes silently blocked