Re: Newbie needs some help

From: Beowulf (beowulf_at_nowhere.net)
Date: 03/31/04 

Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 16:28:25 -0600

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 19:41:59 -0500, Aaron wrote:

> Alright, so I'm in the process of ditching Mickey$oft and switching over to
> Linux. One of the few concerns that I have left is that I don't know jack
> about firewalls for Linux. Can anyone recommend a firewall that would be
> fairly easy for a Linux noob to install and set up?
> ...

If you install, for example, Mandrake Linux, you can go into the Control
Center-> Security and adjust the built-in firewall settings (standard,
high, etc). That does a pretty good job. Then you can go out and buy a
router at a computer store and daisy chain that with your cable or DSL
modem (you are not still using a 56k dial up are you?). Now you have two
layers of firewall on a linux system -- pretty tight. Now use good
passwords. Then turn off unnecessary 'services' (like telnet and ftp
servers, etc.). Then go run a port security scan of your system at one of
the many websites listed here periodicatlly. I am an amateur but I know
that the above advice is simple and pretty effective.

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