Outpost Security Suite is an Internet security suite package for Windows PCs. Its personal firewall

Personal firewall

A personal firewall is an application which controls network traffic to and from a computer, permitting or denying communications based on a security policy. Typically it works as an application layer firewall....

, anti-spyware

Spyware

Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed on computers, and which collects small pieces of information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's...

, Intrusion prevention system and Internet Security

Internet security

Internet security is a branch of computer security specifically related to the Internet. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet represents an insecure channel for exchanging information leading to a high risk of intrusion or fraud,...

 tools components developed by the Agnitum

Agnitum

Agnitum Ltd was founded in 1999 in St. Petersburg, Russia as software company. In 2000 Agnitum hired 2 developers and increased the number of staff people to 20 until 2002. Agnitum was originally focused on anti-trojan and PC connections monitoring solutions targeted on Windows PCs users...

 since 2002. After adding anti-virus and anti-spam to the product, known as Outpost Firewall Pro, Outpost Security Suite was released in May 2007. It is available in both paid (so-called Pro) and freeware

Freeware

Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...

 versions. Free version was released in November 2010 and has only English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 interfaces and some restrictions compared to shareware

Shareware

The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...

 edition.

General Description

Outpost Security Suite Pro (Internet Security

Internet security

Internet security is a branch of computer security specifically related to the Internet. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet represents an insecure channel for exchanging information leading to a high risk of intrusion or fraud,...

 suite) is designed to monitor all system and network events on Windows PCs. Outpost goes beyond monitoring internet traffic and also monitors application behavior in an attempt to stop malicious software covertly infecting Windows systems. Agnitum calls this technology "Component Control" (renamed to "System Guard" in 7.0 edition) and "Anti-Leak Control" (included into HIPS-based "Proactive Protection" module). The product also includes a virus

Virus

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...

, malware

Malware

Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...

 and spyware

Spyware

Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed on computers, and which collects small pieces of information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's...

 scanners and monitor, together with pop-up blocker filter for Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer

Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...

, Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...

 and other [browsers].

Basic Functionality

Outpost Security Suite Pro basic modules:

• Personal Firewall
  Firewall
  Firewall may refer to:* Firewall , a barrier inside a building or vehicle, designed to limit the spread of fire, heat and structural collapse...
  
  - being bidirectional firewall (network filter for inbound and outbound data), it stops inappropriate or malicious access to PC from both internal (LAN) and external (Internet) sources.
• Anti-Malware
  Malware
  Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
  
  (also known as Anti-Virus + Anti-Spyware) - detects, blocks and removes malware, viruses and spyware.
• Proactive Protection (based on Anti-Leak module) - stops zero-day threats by monitoring how programs interact and blocking illegal activity to protect PC against high-level security breach techniques employed in undetectable malware.
• Anti-Spam (personalized antispam plug-in for popular Windows email clients) - incorporates both traditional spam filtering criteria such as white/blacklists and keyword filtering, analysis techniques based on Bayesian algorithm. It can be trained to recognize what user defines as spam.
• Web Control - web surfing security tools including black-lists for IPs and URLs, unwanted web page element filters and ad-blocking on keywords/predefined lists.
• Analizing tools - event logs, monitors for network activity and monitor for system activity.
• ImproveNet - the user-collaborated platform with expanding knowledge base to supply users automatically applied security policies for Firewall and Proactive Protection modules.

Add-ons

Outpost Security Suite (OSS) Pro has next add-ons (being installed with the same software package but not mentioned in main interface window):

• Heuristic Analyzer for eXploits (part of Anti-Malware module) - tool for automated analyzing suspicious behavior in autorun objects to prevent malware activation on system launch,
• Application Guard (part of Proactive Protection module) - protection for cached login details and passwords, electronic wallet IDs, etc. stored by the browser, IM exchanges, and electronic payment processors — to resist personal data theft and zero-day threats.
• File and Folder Lock (part of Proactive Protection module) - protection against malware corruption for locally stored digital valuables.
• File and registry activity monitor (part of Proactive Protection module) — tool for deep analysis of ongoing system events, based on the same principles as FileMon/RegMon were made.
• Removable media protection (so-called "USB Virus Protection", part of the Proactive Protection module) — non-signature auto-run vulnerability with 5-level blocking of USB/CD/DVD storages auto-run files launch.
• SmartDecision technology (so-called "Personal Virus Adviser", basis of the Proactive Protection module) — non-signature detection technology to facilitate decision-making process while security issues. 5-level ranging for starting processes/executing files is applied.

Criticism

Outpost Security Suite has been criticized by some reviewers for the user-decision asking alerts in cases of malware attempts to attack user's system and software. Some users also do not distinguish 32-bit and 64-bit editions distributed by Agnitum in different software packages (see external links).

External links

• http://www.agnitum.com/ (Outpost's official website)
• http://outpostfirewall.com/ (Unofficial Outpost users forum)
• http://download.cnet.com/Agnitum-Outpost-Security-Suite-Free/3000-18510_4-75328020.html (Outpost Security Suite Free 32-bit main download page)
• http://download.cnet.com/Agnitum-Outpost-Security-Suite-Free-64-bit/3000-18510_4-75328026.html?tag=mncol;4 (Outpost Security Suite Free 64-bit main download page)