Firewall software that asks you approve every connection an app makes

[Richard_41]

Is there windows firewall software that alert on any outbound connection an app makes and ask you to approve it first. I kind of remember something like this from many years ago but couldnt anything modern.

Issue is I have a piece of software that the vendor released a bad update right before the holiday trashing the program. I am sure they will fix it sometime next week but I use it to do my shipping so I need to suppress the updates for now so I can print some shipping labels.

I restored my PC from backups but the software 'updates' back to the bad version as soon as I fire it up. I remember some firewall software from back in the day that if you cranked it up it asked you approve every new outgoing connection an app made. Is there still anything like that.

 

[matatas]

You mentioned using Windows as an OS. It has an in-built firewall in which you can set rules for connections (specific ports or range, incoming/outgoing, specific programs, etc). All firewalls basically behave like this, it's more about how 'aggressive' you want it to be.

There are better/more complex solutions than the default Windows firewall, some are standalone while others are bundled with AV software. An example would be ESET (it also has a trial of 30 days, which should get you through the update of the software you're using).

My answer is less of a list and more of an explanation of the concept itself, which I hope will be more useful in the future.

Good luck!

PS: My first answer here after being a Tom's Hardware lurker for years. If it helps, I'll try to give back some more to this awesome community.

 

[aquielisunari]

Glasswire MIGHT be a good compromise.

Most programs have their own settings. Are you saying it doesn't allow the user to disable automatic updates?

Back to Glasswire. What Glasswire is is a Bandwidth monitor with a Firewall chaser. It is a Firewall manager to be a bit more specific. It doesn't have a firewall of its own. Let's say I download the software you have. Once instealled it will make a connection to the Internet. Glasswire offers a small pop-up in the bottom right of the screen telling me "Piece of Sotware" First network connection initiated.

I looked through the settings and don't see a way to disable auto-updates.The moment I see that notification I maximize Glasswire, click on the Firewall tab, find the program that just connected(will be in chronological order) and click the greyed out flame next to the program's name.

The program moves up in the list to the top and gets a flame in front of it. In short, click fire symbol and Glasswire tells Windows Firewall to block that connection. I can then unblock it when I want it to upgrade. It won't block the actual program but instead blocks it from getting online.

 

[aquielisunari]

You mentioned using Windows as an OS. It has an in-built firewall in which you can set rules for connections (specific ports or range, incoming/outgoing, specific programs, etc). All firewalls basically behave like this, it's more about how 'aggressive' you want it to be.

There are better/more complex solutions than the default Windows firewall, some are standalone while others are bundled with AV software. An example would be ESET (it also has a trial of 30 days, which should get you through the update of the software you're using).

My answer is less of a list and more of an explanation of the concept itself, which I hope will be more useful in the future.

Good luck!

PS: My first answer here after being a Tom's Hardware lurker for years. If it helps, I'll try to give back some more to this awesome community.

Congrats!!!!! Nice to hear you're paying it forward.

 

[Richard_41]

My original question was more about how I can figure out where this app is connecting. ESET didnt help. Glasswire did show the connection was being made and I saw a new IP pop up. Then I ran ipconfig /displaydns to see what name they were requesting. ultimtly, I likely could have just did ipconfig /displaydns from the start... But Glasswire was interesting

 

[aquielisunari]

My original question was more about how I can figure out where this app is connecting. ESET didnt help. Glasswire did show the connection was being made and I saw a new IP pop up. Then I ran ipconfig /displaydns to see what name they were requesting. ultimtly, I likely could have just did ipconfig /displaydns from the start... But Glasswire was interesting

Have you figured out how to stop that program from committing suicide , so to speak? Were you able to fix your issue?

Yeah, the more I used Glasswire the more information I saw I was able to access. It's interface isn't exactly novice-friendly. What's interesting to me is the amount of firewalls I have in place for Windows. I don't need Cortana to do what I can, nor do I need it going back to daddy with my info. Initially I removed Cortana from its native folder which confused Windows, stopped Cortana but also broke the Start Menu. This approach is much simpler and doesn't break anything.

 

[SumTingW0ng]

Is there windows firewall software that alert on any outbound connection an app makes and ask you to approve it first. I kind of remember something like this from many years ago but couldnt anything modern.

Issue is I have a piece of software that the vendor released a bad update right before the holiday trashing the program. I am sure they will fix it sometime next week but I use it to do my shipping so I need to suppress the updates for now so I can print some shipping labels.

I restored my PC from backups but the software 'updates' back to the bad version as soon as I fire it up. I remember some firewall software from back in the day that if you cranked it up it asked you approve every new outgoing connection an app made. Is there still anything like that.

Comodo Firewall if you are advanced user.