No stealth on Shields up

[Iceni]

I have gone from dial-in which Shields up gives me all green safe squares to ADSL where I get 3 green squares and the rest blue.

Now I know I am not open to easy attack but as it is now obvious that I am there, someone is going to try. What do I need to do to get my nice stealth settings back. Nothing changed, same provider, but new modem - Olitec which means I had to go to their site and put in my Alice details so that I could connect.

Nice (free if possible) tool wanted please. I have checked via Shields up for years and this is the first time I have ever had one blue square let alone a whole ruddy screen of them - I don't want to be hijacked, I am too old, no-one will pay the ransom

Thanks in advance and once again I do appreciate all the help I get from everyone.

[Deimos]

If you have changed from dial-up to ADSL quite a lot will have changed (though maybe not on your computer). Computer security is complex (aspects handled by your ISP).

When you talk about green squares and blue ones I assume you are talking about some port scan and that green indicates a true stealth port and blue a port that is present. Thus an attacker can now see your computer as present.

If you ask three people about computer security you will get 30 different responses so I will not add to that number, but just ask a few questions that may help you get back to a more hidden mode.

Is your reverse DNS ID the same as it was before (or same format) or does your new system (ADSL) add account info or anything else that might be useful to somebody.

Previously (dial-up)/now (ADSL) are you connected through a internet sharing (e.g. dial-up) or router (e.g. ADSL) or via a modem connected directly to your PC. If using a router, does it include a NAT firewall and is this enabled.

Can you run some sort of check to see if hackers can connect to the Netbios service on your computer (as IMHO this is a pretty major weakness if they can). Similarly, ports 23, 25, 80, 110, 113, 135 (139 – Netbios) and 1024 are IMHO opinion more important ones (others may add/remove ports from this list so I am not presenting it as definitive). In practice you will probably find that getting a decent firewall enabled properly should close off pretty well everything.

There is no inherent reason why ADSL should reveal ports from your computer (neither in “dial-up” nor “always connected” modes). It may be that you ISP had some security before and does not now (although you may be giving the same people your money, the infrastructure you are using is somewhat different).

Ian

[Eslier]

Forget about "free" !!!!!!!

If you want to be properly protected you must go out and spend a modest sum on a good firewall. Something like Norton or McAfee will do a good job.

[Deimos]

After purchasing a copy of Mcafee from PC World – it completely destroyed my Windoze 2000 PC (Blue screen of death). On contacting McAfee support I got the “we know about that and you need to upgrade via the web. Needless to say once I had re-built my PC I did not bother.

Also, Mcafee tends to have a very bad effect on system performance of some PC configurations.

Norton is generally regarded as a “consumer product”. They have been around a long time and are fine for virus protection but not really as a firewall. To e honest, virus protection is “much of a much-ness” these days so I would go for AVG which is just as good as the others AND FREE (for non-commercial use).

Similarly, for Firewalls, Norton is best avoided as is McAfee. Similarly, windows XP SP2 firewall is not great (i.e. does not particularly secure you). There are many around and different people prefer different ones. I have always found ZoneAlarm good – decent protection agains a lot of the tests, pretty highly rated in reviews, etc. and ITS FREE (basic version for non commercial use).

Adware, Spyware etc. is as much down to how you use your computer as to what protecting software you have. You actually need to be pretty careful as to what you use as there are a lot of false products around (may of which you pay for). Some will offer tests and part of their test infects your PC – and you have to buy their full software to get rid of it. Some good free ones around. I’d go with one somebody recommends and/or check on http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm which lists quite a few of the bogus ones (designed to separate you from your money). You can get perfectly good ones for free (spend the money on something more interesting and enjoyable).

There is a lot of good, up-to-date free protection around for non commercial use (you have to buy it to get the fuller versions (e.g. with ZoneAlarm to open specific ports) or if used in a business). However, the free versions are just as good.

Spend your money if you want but you wont be getting a product that is any better than a good free one.

Ian

[Iceni]

Just to add to joy, Router has firewall installed and network will not run if XP or any other firewall is turned on - that PC can see and use the Internet but not any other PC's. I have checked with Shields-up and router firewall seems to be adequate and putting the firewalls on the separate PC's has no effect on the SU results but sure makes life difficult if you want your machines to talk to each other.

It is also an Ethernet USB and it works (and another Olitec - I bought on price as it is only a stop gap (I HOPE).

I will try Deimos' suggestions over the weekend when I get time (have the weekend down for making confit of duck [yes I know, some of us don't get enough at the local 10€ restos]).

I also have to say I used to make a good living sorting out Mcafee and Norton problems when I was in the UK - uninstalling and then rebuilding the machines. I have done quite a bit of research on the MS and Olitec sites and it seems that the set-up I have allows it all to work and is correct.

I used to see Dr Alan Solomon a couple of times a year to talk to and I bet he was glad he took the money and ran before they produced such difficult paid for software.

Thanks Guru's

[Opel Fruit<P><BR>Opel Fruit, Dept. 53<P>]

Contrary to the post about Norton and McAfee, a brief tour of recent reviews would yield the fact that Norton comes WAY DOWN on the useability/protection scores. Norton has never been particularly effective, and still isn't, irrespective of price.

McAfee and Trend PCcillin are both expensive bloatware. And neither work that well.

The best are free. AVG is world renowned and very well supported, as is Zone Alarm and both outperform those that cost money.