OneCare Firewall: A Light-Weight Approach to a Heavy-Duty Problem

Overview

Since Microsoft released its Windows Live OneCare security kit, there has been much discussion as to how the product would benefit ordinary PC users and whether it really delivers on its mission of providing reliable, yet easy-to-use, PC protection for consumers. On top of those discussions came accusations that Microsoft was engaging in predatory pricing intended to drive off competition and stifle innovation in the security space for consumers. In order to fully understand the ins and outs of the debate, the authors decided to go ahead and install the product and conduct their own in-house assessment of the OneCare-bundled firewall protection. This paper shares the results of this test run.