Re: Do i need a FW?

From: Duane Arnold (notme_at_notme.com)
Date: 12/07/03 

Date: Sun, 07 Dec 2003 21:24:11 GMT

"Bob/Shelia" <mayb@ev1.net> wrote in
news:vt74b2hl9kgo6d@corp.supernews.com:

> IE6 under WIN98 SE, stand alone home PC for the usual EMAIL, OnLine
> banking and occasional online investment. My ISP has anti virus
> program that appears to do a good job but still i wonder if I need a
> firewall?
>
>
>

There was a post made here not too long ago about how a machine was
hacked that was doing online investments and money was taken.

I am not saying that a host based FW on the machine is going to stop
anything, but it cannot hurt. Along with stopping unsolicited inbound
traffic to the machine, most have the ability to notify you on outbound
connections to unknown IP(s).

It's good that the ISP has some kind AV on their part, but one cannot
depend upon some other entity for their own protection. Those who write
the malware are always a step ahead of those who write the software to
stop it.

Some say that if you shut down everything on the Win 9'x O/S and nothing
is listening, then you don't need a FW. But I say yeah that maybe true,
but who in the Hell is going to go through all of that.

At the very least, you should watch your outbound connections with
something like Active Ports (free use Google to find it), and you should
have a good AV on the machine doing routine scans.

IMHO, put a cheap NAT router (you can get one on sale for about $20 or
$30) or install a host based FW on the machine. Some people do both with
NAT router, FW, AV and O/S such as an NT based O/S.

http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/about-NAT.asp

I cannot say anything about the Win 9'x O/S, other than get rid of it if
you can do it, or at the very least, something in front of the Win 9 x
O/S like the router or a host based FW installed on the machine.

http://www.uksecurityonline.com/husdg/windows9598.php

You can use Mailwasher or Pop3 Cleaner and both are (free) to filter your
email.

Duane :)

   

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