CheckIt Firewall Reviewer's Comments

CheckIt Firewall has been discontinued.

Feature Set:  

With CheckIt Firewall you can schedule time limits for applications. We tried this with MSN messenger; we granted Messenger only 5 minutes of online access each day and it worked. Once time was up, Messenger's Internet access ended. This is a perk for parents enforcing online chat limits or other limits.

Beyond applying schedule limits, you can customize application settings to meet trust standards; this includes labeling which IP addresses, ports and protocols your software has permission to use. Settings and preferences are intuitive to set and easy to change, and you can password protect CheckIt Firewall so no one can make changes except you.

You can also view applications that are running right now; details will show the name, version and path of the software. This is useful when you need to pinpoint an application that's causing problems; you can go directly to the path and try to delete it.

Another view will show you connection details—all that the software is using—including protocol (rules), status, ports and IP address (a number that identifies a specific computer system). If you've received malicious software, CheckIt Firewall lets you trace similar computer identification items for your intruder back to the origin.

If you need to block all traffic to your computer immediately, click the block all button—easy to spot on the top bar of the control panel.

Ease of Use:  

CheckIt was easy to use. The control panel displayed incoming, outgoing and blocked traffic as it happened.

Whenever you reboot your computer, the CheckIt Firewall icon doesn't reappear on your taskbar. Though invisible, CheckIt Firewall is still protecting your computer, but you need to go to All Programs, press the CheckIt button to see it again. (We automatically loaded CheckIt Firewall at startup.)

Ease of Installation:  

CheckIt Firewall is easy to install and set up and upgrades are a breeze. During installation, CheckIt Firewall runs a security scan.

Reliability:  

CheckIt Firewall has a test button that will take you to their online test site so you can do a quick scan to identify your most vulnerable ports. You can also scan to see if the ports used for video conferencing are vulnerable. And you can ping your machine (request that a small packet of data be sent and bounced back with a response) to see if your security settings are correct.

CheckIt Firewall passed every online test and did well blocking cookies, but the firewall failed to block the referrer check. The referrer test checks to see if the firewall allows general computer information (such as your operating system, browser, location) to be seen by others online.

CheckIt Firewall also failed to stop PCAudit from capturing an image of my desktop and emailing the image and the contents of my document folder. This is a vulnerability that firewalls should not have.

Help/Support:  

Product documentation is good. The support button guides you to a knowledge database then to a page written to match your specific operating system. You can read FAQs online or contact a technician by email. You must be a registered user in-order to receive email support.

Summary:  

One of the most challenging characteristics of firewalls for computer novices is that they appear more difficult that they are. CheckIt Firewall works to remove those fears; they've designed their product with most every feature available with one click on their control panel.

If all you need from a firewall is the ability to stealth (hide) your vulnerable ports and your IP address, CheckIt Firewall can work for you. If you're looking for a product that also protects your system from ads, adware and offensive content, consider our top recommended firewalls.

Click here to view our top pick for personal firewall software, ZoneAlarm Pro.