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| Thread ID: 46797 | 2004-07-05 22:55:00 | Cos I don't know I have to ask. | summertime (2568) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 250079 | 2004-07-05 22:55:00 | Can someone please explain why firewalls are necessary. I recently downloaded Zone Alarm and notice that 2,000 intrusions have been blocked, 126 of them high rated. I have not had a firewall for 5 years and nothing untoward happened. | summertime (2568) | ||
| 250080 | 2004-07-05 23:17:00 | It's a bit like locking the door to your house,You have control over who enters & who doesn't,You may not get burgled but theres always a good chance you may if the door is left unlocked. Modern operating systems such as win2000 /win Xp are the main targets nowdays for worms, trojans & virus's. I would recommend you use a firewall,better to be safe than sorrry. Steve |
Steve Askew (119) | ||
| 250081 | 2004-07-05 23:21:00 | Firewalls are also handy for detecting sneaky programs that are trying to get out, eg trojans, etc. You may not even know you have a trojan until your firewall alerts you. Better safe than sorry. ;-) |
Susan B (19) | ||
| 250082 | 2004-07-05 23:30:00 | I periodically run a password protected FTP file server on one of my computers, and the Kerio soft firewall is set to accept only one IP address on ftp port 21. However I have to open port 21 to that computer in my router set up. You would not believe the number of attempts to get into the system, mainly from Asian sources. this goes to show how many potential nasties are out there scanning blocks of IP addresses for open ports, presumably with the intention of trying to take over, or maybe just looking. If I set Kerio to accept all IP addresses, then the ftp server log get filled up with attempts to try and find the password and user name. It's a bad world out there. |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 250083 | 2004-07-05 23:30:00 | > Firewalls are also handy for detecting sneaky > programs that are trying to get out, eg trojans, etc. > You may not even know you have a trojan until your > firewall alerts you. > > Better safe than sorry. ;-) I agree with Susan except for winXP's built in firewall doesn't alert you that progs are trying to get out.:O Steve |
Steve Askew (119) | ||
| 250084 | 2004-07-05 23:33:00 | a firewall can block worms which is a bit better than hopeing the MS patch is installed (assuming they even have one to fix that hole) or relying on the antivirus which may not be uptodate enough to detect it. also it can help hide you off the net so anyone searching around for a pc to hack into will not to see you. most importantly it gives you some control over what programs on your pc access the net ie do you let that password stealing trojen through to tell its master your banking details and passwords? also handy for blocking spyware and other crud. unfortunatly it requires some input from the user and with any sicurity its a matter of fooling the user ;-) you need to remember that just becasue you havn't noticed anything dosn't mean nothing happened. ignorance is bliss :-) those with dailup are less likly to have problems. most hackers want to make use of other peoples broadband. also if your maxing out dailup it takes ages for any background nasty to do its stuff which gives you a bit of time to spot it and/or dissconnect from the net before its had time to to do anything. years ago it was rare to have anything nasty. not so today, its so comman to get spyware/malware/trojens its not funny :( |
tweak'e (174) | ||
| 250085 | 2004-07-06 02:36:00 | > years ago it was rare to have anything nasty. not so > today, its so comman to get spyware/malware/trojens > its not funny :( Not as rare as you may think. I recall in 1996 becoming aware of the huge number of trojan attempts (12345, 12346 etc). In those days incoming port scans were common as muck - lots from Brazil, and a few from NZ - those days the ISP's responded very positively to complaints and a couple killed accounts of abusers (not Xtra - they're too damned complacent) |
Greg S (201) | ||
| 250086 | 2004-07-06 08:08:00 | Thank you all so much for your comments and advice. I really appreciate the help I receive from this site and I am sure many newbies will benefit | summertime (2568) | ||
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