Beta : Windows Mobile firewall

**Chris Leckness** · 08-30-04, 12:36 AM

Dallas, TX - August 30, 2004
Airscanner Corp. today announced the public beta release of their personal firewall for Windows Mobile 2003/Pocket PC.

Airscanner Mobile Firewall is a full-strength, fully configurable, NDIS packet-filtering TCP/IP firewall. It is the first personal firewall made specifically for the Widows Mobile PDA end-user.
Download Airscanner Mobile Firewall 1.0 beta here: http://airscanner.com/downloads/fw/amfw.exe

View the User's Manual here: http://www.airscanner.com/downloads/firewall/fwmanual.htm

Airscanner Corp. has also published a series of articles showing how to detect, remove, and reverse engineer embedded viruses and Trojans on Windows Mobile. Using step-by-step instructions, we show you exactly how to dissect CE.Dust, the first Windows CE Virus, and Brador, the First Windows CE Trojan. This series of articles will appear on a weekly basis starting in a few weeks. Stay tuned to Airscanner.com for details. Airscanner software is currently free for personal (non-commercial) use.

ABOUT AIRSCANNER
Airscanner Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, TX, produces the most technologically advanced mobile security software in the world. Airscanner is a pure research and development software company comprised of pre-eminent leaders in the field of wireless security. Airscanner technology is based on multiple U.S. Patents pending. "Airscanner" is a registered trademark of Airscanner Corp.

08-30-04, 12:39 AM

Excellent, I was hoping for something like this.

08-30-04, 03:25 AM

I already have and use their Mobile AntiVirus app. which I've been happy with (but also stuck with--can't move or remove it no matter what I try. It takes up a hell of a lot of room so I wanted to move it to my SD card--no dice; won't uninstall from Axim--says it's uninstalled from Active Sync, but it's not). Is this yet in addition to that? And will any such apps interfere with GPS or the like?

reese · 08-30-04, 09:12 AM

Liking it so far..

08-30-04, 11:37 AM

Cool...does the virus scanner and I guess the firewall work on an SD card? Actually I should just leave both on the main memory...but still wondering... I did like the scanner (I haven't installed it since I did a hard reset...

I would like to know if the firewal slows down X5s...so someone let us know. I will try to get this tonight perhaps...

08-30-04, 12:25 PM

Well, answered my own question. The Firewall is an adjunct program and it scoots right along from over on my SD card.

08-30-04, 01:03 PM

Yep, I installed it into BIS, and it works great. Only thing I did was remove the .lnk file it puts into the \windows\startup folder. I don't need it running all the time, but its nice to have it when I'm on a public hotspot that's not using WEP!

FallN · 08-30-04, 04:39 PM

I was just looking into PPC Firewalls last night! :D

I use Airscanner's Anti-virus Protection for the PPC... the residitintal real-time scanner, Active Guard, really slows down and often locks up my Axim from the moment I enable it... so I hardly every use it.

The Antivirus software itself has a nasty habit of locking up my Axim too... so I'm not so sure about this Beta, but I'll give it a try because I use unencrypted Hot Spots all the time.

Like they say: "An ounce of Prevention..." so it's worth a shot. :approve:

08-30-04, 05:27 PM

I just installed AirScanner AV last night, and although I'm sure it does a great job of protecting yout PPC, it bogs it down big time. I uninstalled it for this reason.

One other thing I noticed. If you install the FW to SD card, it will work, but you may get an error on when it soft resets after the install. Mine barked about not being able to find the Firewall Executable. No problem, I just deleted the .lnk file that the install put into my \windows\startup directory and all is now well.

Some apps can't load with the system from the SD card because of the speed, so it reports that it can't find it. I also installed from a .cab file, and put it 3 directories deep, which may have added to things.

It will launch normally from SD card once WM has loaded. Very nice and simple interface, plus configurability. What more can one ask for? :)

hd2002 · 09-03-04, 07:19 PM

but is this really necessay? in my opinion, this is more like installing antivirus software on linux

robbie1kenobe · 09-03-04, 09:58 PM

I had problems with Airscanner's AV also, lots of lockups and bogdowns, so I removed it. As far as the firewall, it disabled my X30 high's radio so that no WiFi signal would come through. I tinkered with the firewall settings for a while to see if the radio would be enabled but then gave up and uninstalled the firewall, not worth the hassle (probably just a beta bug). Will wait until the bugs are squashed to install a newer version...

mutant · 09-04-04, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by hd2002

but is this really necessay? in my opinion, this is more like installing antivirus software on linux

And you think you WON't EVER need anti-virus protection on LINUX!?
Check this:
Linux Virus Threats

Just like with LINUX, it is best to have a Firewall installed (that was the subject of this thread after all). If you have a decent firewall, virus protection is not as important IF YOU PRACTICE SAFE COMPUTING. But, let's face it, just like safe sex, not everyone is 100% protected 100% of the time and stuff happens.

Sure, it's less likely on a LINUX box (or Pocket PC) but it can and will happned some time. You have to do a risk/benefits analysis for your own situation but FREE makes it a pretty easy choice.