Restricting network access to software

Question

How can I deny network access to a particular software/application?

I cannot disable the network, as I want other software to have network access. Also, I need to deny complete network access, not merely web access.

Answer 1

Or....I can't belive no one has sugested this...Just use Windows firewall. You don't have to buy anything then and it won't hog your memory resources like other firewalls. It is also easier to use than others. Because it is free most people think its useless but the truth is they don't know how to use it.

Go to control panel > windows firewall

In there add a new block rule for the program. you need to find the full path of the program and add it. for example if i wanted to block Microsoft Word from any type of network access I would add c:\program files\microsoft\word.exe in the blocked list.

Simples!

Answer 2

I use Comodo firewall. It's free and it enables you to deny internet access to any application.

Answer 3

Some antivirus software like Kaspersky allow you to set rules for applications like preventing it from accessing network etc. Try using one such application

Answer 4

NetLimiter can do that. They have a free 'monitor', but you have to pay to actually 'control' the network access. You have 28 day trial period though, so you can test it out first.

Answer 5

See DriveSentry.

There is a long discussion of it on Gizmo. The relevant parts are:

It assumes (quite rightly) that in order to operate, any program on your computer needs disc access, and in particular it needs to be able to write data to your hard drive. This includes things sitting in your temporary folders and on your desktop as well as the installed applications in your program files.

The key feature is that DriveSentry will only allow trusted programs to write to your protected areas. DriveSentry contains a white list of safe files which it will allow to run and also a black list of known malware which it will block.

Whilst it will automatically block and quarantine known malware, the other automated features are fully controllable, keeping you in the DrivingSeat if that's the way you want it. The GUI is easy enough to navigate and the information presented is clear and concise. Resource consumption, in particular memory use, was an issue with previous versions but this has now been fixed in this release.

The free version “trickle” updates cease after 30 days but users can still download these manually by clicking the “Synchronize” button on the options page.