Unwanted software snuck into your PC

[Cloudbringer]

Originally posted by Bungleau: I really liked Black Ice Defender. Heck, the first night I had it installed, I saw notification of seven attempts to probe my system... about every 40 minutes! Only thing I didn't like is that (at least at that time) BID protected against incoming traffic only. If someone snuck a trojan into your system (like a dialer program), that program had free reign once it kicked off. TPFW, Zone Alarm, and others also protect against outgoing traffic. One thing I forgot to mention: set your browser to prompt you any time there's a file that wants to be downloaded. That way, you can know if someone's trying to sneak something in. If you let it come in anyway... not much more the poor computer can do, can it?

Hmm, I didn't know that. Mine is a newer program, about 2 yrs old and I updated it last year but I saw recently there's a newer version of Black Ice out now. I'm going to have to find my serial number and upgrade again after I get my pc all upgraded, which is a piece by piece kind of project for me. I wonder if BID got that problem fixed?

Nacht loves Zone Alarm. If he sees this, he might have some idea what you are having the problem with, Harkoliar. Maybe you can get some help from Zone Alarm's site? Do they have an FAQ?

[Harkoliar]

originally posted by cloudy --------------------------------- Nacht loves Zone Alarm. If he sees this, he might have some idea what you are having the problem with, Harkoliar. Maybe you can get some help from Zone Alarm's site? Do they have an FAQ?

thanks for the suggestion once again cloudy. [img]smile.gif[/img] ill pm nacht about it soon. its kinda l8 right now so i will be off to sleep. i checked the website, customer support and thingie, but i cant seem to find the faq yet... the help option doesnt help that much with info.

posted by LK ---------------- By gibbies are for hire for a nominal fee (through dial-up) to take care of any problems you may have. Sorry Hark, could'nt resist, I would tell every authority type you can. This crap wont stop unless we stop it.

well LK, send forth your gibbies

anyway, ever since the installation less than 1 hr ago... i had 21 attempted access with high rated warning posted among them. at least i know this programs is working perfectly ... again thanks for the help and suggestions guys. im off to bed now.

[Cloudbringer]

goodnight! ZA will keep the bad guys from getting on your pc. At least we hope it will!

[Sever]

Originally posted by Harkoliar: the problem was that i got angry, i just closed off the website without remembering to bookmark or address. :embarrassed: i got it off hotmail i think in one of those interesting "junkmail". too bad i already deleted them permenently. ill checking again with zone alarm.. i could have missed that freeware program for it [img]smile.gif[/img] [/QB]

Unless you really like browsing those 'interesting junkmails', i'd suggest altering your hotmail account so that you do not receive any. The copious quantities of crap that gets thrown in your email means that sooner or later, you're gonna pick something up. Sure, a firewall will stop those nasty visitors (and is highly recommended) but isn't there enough porn on the web without them force feeding it to you?

[Bungleau]

Hmm, I didn't know that. Mine is a newer program, about 2 yrs old and I updated it last year but I saw recently there's a newer version of Black Ice out now. I'm going to have to find my serial number and upgrade again after I get my pc all upgraded, which is a piece by piece kind of project for me. I wonder if BID got that problem fixed?

Actually, Cloudy, it's really not a bug-related issue, but more of a design issue. Originally, BID was designed to protect from the outside. It wasn't designed to defend against Trojan horses and the like; your normal AV stuff should be able to pick that up. And the software may have been updated since I last looked at it. I'm due for a reevaluation anyway...

These days, it pays to be protected on both sides

[ 03-03-2003, 01:38 PM: Message edited by: Bungleau ]

[Nachtrafe]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer: Zone Alarm can be downloaded free, I think. Nachtrafe uses it, while I use Black Ice Defender. I really love Black Ice and haven't had any problems with it. I'd say you should definitely get some kind of firewall! You could try Zone Alarm if you want a free one and then see how you like it. If it's not what you want, research some of the ones mentioned here and get one! I think Sir K is right about reporting the incident to the website, too!

Yeppers. I have Zone Alarm(the freeware version). It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of the Pro version, but it has all of the basic functionality. It works very well, and is consistently rated one of the best free firewall solutions. And, you can save up and eventually get the full version. That's what I plan to do.

Another advantage of ZA is that you can choose to let individual programs/processes run. ZA defaults to having *ALL* ingoing and outgoing ports blocked. When a program wants to access the net you get a pop-up asking if you want to allow it access. You can say 'YES' or 'NO'. You can also check a box that will allow certain program to *ALWAYS* access the net(I do this for things like MSN messenger, AIM, etc).

The interface for ZA is really nice too(again, IMO, others may differ). Mostly simple check boxes. All in all I give it two thumbs *WAY* up!

Either way though, DO GET A FIREWALL!!! Even if you just run dialup, you can still get hacked! Everyone needs to have a firewall running in this day and age, IMO anyway. Like Cloudy said, you can try ZA and, if you like it, upgrade. And, if you dont like it, you can still use it while you save money and shop around for another one, and still be protected.

EDIT: Hark...feel free to PM me anytime! I'm off to work now myself. Have a good night!

[ 03-03-2003, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: Nachtrafe ]

[andrewas]

Originally posted by Harkoliar: i finally got that zone alarm program. [img]smile.gif[/img] i do have a question though.. it looks kinda complicated and i dont think i can understand even half of the function of what is does in zone alarm. i just placed in in medium security. i keep getting that netbios thingie from the internet.. can anyone explain what that means?

Set internet to high security, trusted to medium. Trusted is mainly things on your local LAN.

Turn off intrusion warning. It gets annoying after about 10 minutes.

Whenever you get a box asking if a program should be able to access the internet, make sure its a program you know about (post if unsure). Things like explorer should be let through.

Something like messenger or kazaa have to be let through, and allowed to act as server. (acting as server means letting the internet connect to them rather than they connect to the internet - essential for recieving messages and for sharing files in kazaa)

The netbios thingie from the internet probably means someone is trying to access your HDD. Or maybe its just a port scanner. either way, they have Zero chance of getting any of your info while ZA is active, so its not worth worrying about.

Nactrafe - does ZA pro let me close off a specific IP on the internet? I want to block a certain popup server which is called from hyperboards, proboards and all over the place, and I figure if I close off that IP it should stop their script loading.

[Kakero]

got a question, if you installed those things will it slow down the computer?

[andrewas]

Depends on your system. ZA will cause a little slowdown, but even on my old box (K6-2 450 with 128Mb RAM) its not noticable. I suppose if someone was running an old 166 or something it might be a problem. But you dont have to run it all the time, just when you have an active internet connection. So it needent affect your singleplayer games.

[Sir Krustin]

With an "always on" connection like cable, you should leave your firewall on at all times.

I find the realtime virus scanner a bigger hog of cpu than the firewall.