Firewall recommended?

[quietman1920]

Its funny: this argument is one I had 18 months ago. I now use a Lynksis 4-port router ($99 at Best Buy) AND Zone Alarm. I always click the Zone Alarm lock to locked whenever I leave the machine. You won't have any trouble if you do this.

Why would I do this, you may ask? Long Ago, I used to like to play Diablo2. D2 was a hackers playground: everyone wanted a character that could kick every other character's butt. Hackers would hack 'white armor' to make them invincible or make 'hacked charms' to give them skill levels. If they couldn't make their own, some hackers had programs designed to steal what was in your inventory. What was worse, if you called them Thieves to their face, they had what it took to get your IP address and bombard you with port scans to knock you off-line. And if they were a member of a Clan, they'd get the entire Clan (think 3 time zones if not more) to bombard your IP address with port scans.

I got Zone Alarm to get the IP addresses of who was trying to hack me. Then I started letter campaigns to various ISPs to get them to police the hackers using their service. I found myself writing more letters than gaming, and I was getting NOWHERE.

So...I bought the router. Once I bought it, I released all my settings & got a new IP address. Then I took my Diablo disk & circular filed it. Oddly enough, I haven't been bothered since.

[ 03-25-2003, 08:52 AM: Message edited by: quietman1920 ]

[Paladin2000]

Which comes to my previous statement...

If you did not go around pissing people (namely hackers), the chances of you being hacked is quite remote. I did not come to this conclusion myself but from one of the articles somewhere. Anyway, to be on the safe side...it is better to have at least a software firewall installed.

Anyway, I think the chances of you being hacked have something to do with the region you are in. Asia Pacific is still relatively safe from hackers for the moment and I live in Asia Pacific region.

[quietman1920]

...don't you mean Asia-Pacific 'Realm'? (lol)

PS- I suppose I wasn't too tactful about the loss of character items & being PK'd when I didn't want to be. Some people leave an impression; evidently I left a crater with a half-life...

[Bahamut]

umm isn't the win xp firewall good enough? just a question

[andrewas]

winXP firewall is incompatable with a number of internet products. Not a problem for most, but it means I cant use it even if I did trust it.

And thats the thing. I trust M$ to make an (almost)acceptably stability OS. I trust them to provide APIs for graphics, sound, etc. But I will *not* *ever* trust them with security. They have an interest in having access to systems running their OS. They have some kind of deal with the FBI if I remember rightly, Ill try and find a link on that.

In any case, if you want a secure machine, the security program has to come from an independant company with nothing to gain from having a backdoor in it.

[Bungleau]

The first time I installed a software firewall (Black Ice, as it were), it was about 9PM on a Tuesday evening. By the time I got done computing for the night (around midnight or so), there were seven warnings of someone who had probed my system looking for an open port they could exploit.

Can they get in only if you muck up your config? Unfortunately, no. Holes and gaps in existing products are routinely discovered, and patches made available. Nimda proliferated because of patches not applied to NT web servers. There are more cases out there; unless you can trust the operating system to be 100% secure and reliable, someone may find a way in. And once they're in, they can use you as a base to find more dupes.

Protect yourself. You think MS will pay attention when you complain that your system was used by someone else? They'll ask why you didn't apply the latest patches.

Your system. Your fault. Your responsibility. Your success.

[whacky]

Should i reply, i wonder. Oh well i guess i will.

Free firewall ... hmm IIRC Tiny personal firewall is the best if you configure it yourself, try getting a manual or stuff.
Lets make this all clear.Most of the hits you get while online through your firewall are nothing but randon port scannings, no need to worry, the firewall should be enough to discourage the users. But all that changes when a real hacker, rather cracker, is involved in the activity. chances are that your firewall (any) is exploitable and it will be exploited and you will be hacked, no matter how secure or insecure you are. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Nothing, my friend, is ultimately secure. But why should you care, you have nothing that could interest a hacker.
Hmm as another advice try getting hold of a port blocker, it'll ensure that you dont get exploited.

Whacky

[wellard]

Originally posted by whacky: chances are that your firewall (any) is exploitable and it will be exploited and you will be hacked, no matter how secure or insecure you are. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Nothing, my friend, is ultimately secure. But why should you care, you have nothing that could interest a hacker. Hmm as another advice try getting hold of a port blocker, it'll ensure that you dont get exploited.

If we have not got anything worth hacking then why do they spend so much time and money trying [img]graemlins/madatpc2.gif[/img]

But the main point is this.. It’s bloody rude; it’s a violation of our computer and our home that it is located in, its trespass, and more tangibly its theft. [img]graemlins/locked.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/alarm.gif[/img] After I clock off after an hour of IW spamming [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img] I look at the upload download figures and see on average my downloads are about 50% of my uploads [img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img] this slows down my internet connection considerably so please don’t give me any why worry argument

Edit due to aggresive last line and spelling

[ 03-26-2003, 12:36 PM: Message edited by: wellard ]

[Bungleau]

First off, I agree, Whacky -- locks are only there to keep honest people honest. Someone who is determined to break in to your system will eventually do so.

And I tried TPFW. I didn't have enough good documentation -- I'm still amazed at how much traffic was going on. I went to a hardware firewall and haven't worried excessively since.

However, I disagree here:

But why should you care, you have nothing that could interest a hacker.

You have a machine from which another attack can be launched on someone else, and you'll get the blame. You have an email account set up on your machine that can be used to send batches of spam until you figure it out, and you get the blame. The data you have on your machine may not be valuable per se (how much can I get for an MM6 save game?), but it might (did you enter your credit card numbers when you set up Quicken?).

They won't guarantee you safety or security. But they get you a lot closer there.

[Bahamut]

what about pc-cillin firwalls? they aren't good either? man... a lot of firewalls... it's making me confused...