Firestarter is an Open Source visual firewall program. The software aims to combine ease of use with powerful features, therefore serving both Linux desktop users and system administrators.
Firestarter's authors strongly believe that your job is to make the high level security policy decisions and ours is to take care of the underlying details. This is a departure from your typical Linux firewall, which has traditionally required arcane implementation specific knowledge.
Why you need a firewall A firewall does not guarantee security but it is in most environments the first line of defense against network based attacks. You can use Firestarter on your...
Desktop or laptop. Our philosophy of simplicity has made Firestarter the most widely used Linux desktop firewall software available today.
Server. Firestarter can be installed onto individual servers and managed graphically over SSH or using the shell.
Gateway or dedicated firewall. Firestarter will set up Internet connection sharing for you with a minimum of fuss. Want DHCP for the clients? Sure you could configure it yourself, but we know you never get around to doing it, with Firestarter it only takes one click.
Firestarter features
Open Source software, available free of charge
User friendly, easy to use, graphical interface
A wizard walks you through setting up your firewall on your first time
Suitable for use on desktops, servers and gateways
Real-time firewall event monitor shows intrusion attempts as they happen
Enables Internet connection sharing, optionally with DHCP service for the clients
Allows you to define both inbound and outbound access policy
Open or stealth ports, shaping your firewalling with just a few mouse clicks
Enable port forwarding for your local network in just seconds
Option to whitelist or blacklist traffic
Real time firewall events view
View active network connections, including any traffic routed through the firewall
Advanced Linux kernel tuning features provide protection from flooding, broadcasting and spoofing
Support for tuning ICMP parameters to stop Denial of Service (DoS) attacks
Support for tuning ToS parameters to improve services for connected client computers
Ability to hook up user defined scripts or rulesets before or after firewall activation
Supports Linux Kernels 2.4 and 2.6
Translations available for many languages (38 languages as of November 2004)
