PeerBlock

Last updated
PeerBlock
PeerBlock-1.1.png
PeerBlock 1.1 on Windows 8.1
Developer(s) Mark Bulas, "night_stalker_z", "XhmikosR"
Initial releaseSeptember 27, 2009;12 years ago (2009-09-27)
Final release
1.2 [1] / January 14, 2014;8 years ago (2014-01-14)
Repository
Written in C++
Operating system Microsoft Windows
Available inEnglish
Type Firewall
License GPL or zlib License
Website peerblock.com

PeerBlock is a free and open-source personal firewall that blocks packets coming from, or going to, a maintained list of black listed hosts. [2] PeerBlock is the Windows successor to the software PeerGuardian (which is currently maintained only for Linux). [3] It blocks incoming and outgoing connections to IP addresses that are included on blacklists (made available on the Internet), and to addresses specified by the user. [3] PeerBlock mainly uses blacklists provided by iblocklist.com. [4]

Contents

Development

PeerBlock 1.0 is based on the same code as PeerGuardian 2 RC1 Test3 Vista version. [3] It adds support for 32- and 64-bit Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. When the PeerGuardian project ended, its developer Phoenix Labs encouraged current PeerGuardian users to migrate to PeerBlock. [5]

PeerBlock is under development by a small team of developers led by Mark Bulas. [6] Hosting, as well as the signed driver, is funded by donations from the public. Future donations are intended to contribute to future signed drivers, hosting and to possibly rent a virtual private server on which the team should be able to build a "real" online-update feature for future releases of PeerBlock.

Features

PeerBlock has added multiple features in the latest version of the program. Such as a constantly updating blocklist managed by the home site and a manager that lets you choose which lists to include in the block. [7] The program allows for a user to turn on and off both IP and HTTP trackers as well as including a log showing the time, source, IP address, destination, and protocol of the tracker. A list of settings allows users to both customize their program's interface as well as its operations.[ citation needed ] [8]

Until September 2013, I-Blocklist, the supplier of the blocking lists PeerBlock uses, supported unlimited free list updating. Since September 2013 updates were limited to once weekly, except to paid subscribers. PeerBlock is hard-coded to use I-Blocklist lists and has entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with I-Blocklist. [9] In late 2015 blocklists were no longer available without payment of a subscription. [10]

Related Research Articles

SourceForge Web-based source code repository

SourceForge is a web service that offers software consumers a centralized online location to control and manage open-source software projects and research business software. It provides source code repository hosting, bug tracking, mirroring of downloads for load balancing, a wiki for documentation, developer and user mailing lists, user-support forums, user-written reviews and ratings, a news bulletin, micro-blog for publishing project updates, and other features.

Proxy server Computer server that makes and receives requests on behalf of a user

In computer networking, a proxy server is a server application that acts as an intermediary between a client requesting a resource and the server providing that resource.

Internet censorship in Australia is enforced by both the country's criminal law as well as voluntarily enacted by internet service providers. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a blocklist of overseas websites which is then provided for use in filtering software. The restrictions focus primarily on child pornography, sexual violence, and other illegal activities, compiled as a result of a consumer complaints process.

AVG AntiVirus Antivirus computer program

AVG AntiVirus is a line of antivirus software developed by AVG Technologies, a subsidiary of Avast. It is available for Windows, macOS and Android.

Norton Internet Security, developed by Symantec Corporation, was a computer program that provided malware protection and removal during a subscription period. It used signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features included a personal firewall, email spam filtering, and phishing protection. With the release of the 2015 line in summer 2014, Symantec officially retired Norton Internet Security after 14 years as the chief Norton product. It was superseded by Norton Security, a rechristened adaptation of the Norton 360 security suite.

Phoenix Labs was a software developing community founded by Tim Leonard and Ken McClelland and best known for PeerGuardian, an open-source software program optimized for use as a personal firewall on file sharing networks.

PeerGuardian Free and open source program developed by Phoenix Labs

PeerGuardian is a free and open source program developed by Phoenix Labs. It is capable of blocking incoming and outgoing connections based on IP blacklists. The aim of its use was to block peers on the same torrent download from any visibility of your own peer connection using IP lists. The system is also capable of blocking custom ranges, depending upon user preferences.

LogMeIn Hamachi Virtual private network application

LogMeIn Hamachi is a virtual private network (VPN) application developed and released in 2004 by Alex Pankratov. It is capable of establishing direct links between computers that are behind network address translation ("NAT") firewalls without requiring reconfiguration ; in other words, it establishes a connection over the Internet that emulates the connection that would exist if the computers were connected over a local area network ("LAN").

SORBS is a list of e-mail servers suspected of sending or relaying spam. It has been augmented with complementary lists that include various other classes of hosts, allowing for customized email rejection by its users.

Windows Firewall Firewall software for Windows

Windows Firewall, is a firewall component of Microsoft Windows. It was first included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Prior to the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 in 2004, it was known as Internet Connection Firewall. With the release of Windows 10 version 1709 in September 2017, it was renamed Windows Defender Firewall.

In networking, a black hole refers to a place in the network where incoming or outgoing traffic is silently discarded, without informing the source that the data did not reach its intended recipient.

Outpost Firewall Pro is a discontinued personal firewall developed by Agnitum.

There are a number of security and safety features new to Windows Vista, most of which are not available in any prior Microsoft Windows operating system release.

The Skype protocol is a proprietary Internet telephony network used by Skype. The protocol's specifications have not been made publicly available by Skype and official applications using the protocol are closed-source.

In computing, Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 introduced in 2007/2008 a new networking stack named Next Generation TCP/IP stack, to improve on the previous stack in several ways. The stack includes native implementation of IPv6, as well as a complete overhaul of IPv4. The new TCP/IP stack uses a new method to store configuration settings that enables more dynamic control and does not require a computer restart after a change in settings. The new stack, implemented as a dual-stack model, depends on a strong host-model and features an infrastructure to enable more modular components that one can dynamically insert and remove.

MoBlock is free software for blocking connections to and from a specified range of hosts. Moblock is an IP address filtering program for Linux that is similar to PeerGuardian for Microsoft Windows. Its development has been stopped in favor of Phoenix Labs' official PeerGuardian Linux and parts of its code have been merged in PeerGuardian Linux.

Kaspersky Internet Security

Kaspersky Internet Security is an internet security suite developed by Kaspersky Lab compatible with Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Kaspersky Internet Security offers protection from malware, as well as email spam, phishing and hacking attempts, and data leaks. Kaspersky Lab Diagnostics results are distributed to relevant developers through the MIT License.

Fail2ban Intrusion prevention software framework that protects computer servers from brute-force attacks

Fail2ban is an intrusion prevention software framework that protects computer servers from brute-force attacks. Written in the Python programming language, it is able to run on POSIX systems that have an interface to a packet-control system or firewall installed locally, for example, iptables or TCP Wrapper.

Blacklist (computing) Criteria to control computer access

In computing, a blacklist, disallowlist, blocklist, or denylist is a basic access control mechanism that allows through all elements, except those explicitly mentioned. Those items on the list are denied access. The opposite is a whitelist, allowlist, or passlist, in which only items on the list are let through whatever gate is being used. A greylist contains items that are temporarily blocked until an additional step is performed.

ConnectWise Control is a self-hosted remote desktop software application owned by Connectwise Inc., a software developer based in Tampa, Florida, United States. It was originally developed by Elsinore Technologies in 2008 under the name ScreenConnect.

References

  1. Peerblock, LLC. "PeerBlock 1.2 – Peerblock Site". Archived from the original on 2014-01-16.
  2. Harac, Ian (November 5, 2009). "PeerBlock Helps You Surf the Web in Secret". PCWorld. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "What is PeerBlock's relationship with the old PeerGuardian program?". Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  4. Chen, Xi; Kai Lin; Biao Wang; Zhe Yang. "Active measurements on bittorrent and emule ecosystem over the internet". 2nd International Conference on Consumer Electronics, Communications and Networks.
  5. "Phoenix Labs – Powered by vBulletin".
  6. Peerblock, LLC. "About Us – Peerblock Site". Archived from the original on 2009-10-02.
  7. Min, Xinping, Qingzhong Li, Lei Liu, and Lizhen Cui. "A permissioned blockchain framework for supporting instant transaction and dynamic block size". IEEE Trustcom/BigDataSE/ISPA.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. "A Complete Guide To Firewall: How To Build A Secure Networking System".
  9. Peerblock, LLC. "PeerBlock / IBlockList Partnership – Peerblock Site". Archived from the original on 2013-10-14.
  10. "List Update Error: Subscription required – Peerblock Site". Peerblock.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2015.