Re: Norton firewall blocks AOL buddy list
From: Gerald Vogt (vogt_at_spamcop.net)
Date: 03/13/05
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Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2005 10:13:14 +0900
pe wrote:
> Thanks for the response; I'll look into it. And yes, while it's true that
> some of us compute to live while others live to compute, and while there's
> nothing wrong with being in the latter (or, for that matter, the former)
> category, it's too bad that Gerald couldn't find the grace to share his
> obviously considerable expertise without also attempting to make me feel
> like he's the windshield and I'm the bug (be advised, Gerald, that, in the
> real world, those roles reverse frequently, and usually without notice). :)
Well, I saw too much shit happening and had to clean up the shit for
people too often to really believe that the direct explanation of the
solutions helps people to actually learn something about the stuff they
are using. For security, the most important thing is that the user
learns proper behaviour not to risk anything. This is the only safe and
sound thing to do. But too often it is the other way round: people are
not interested in anything except that this one connection is supposed
to work. If you give them exactly this answer they will do exactly this
and nothing else. When there is the next problem, same procedure again.
And in particular for so fundamental functionality like the application
rules of your firewall it seems only reasonable to tell people: try to
work in and understand the stuff.
Your FW manual does contain description how it works. It takes some time
to read and you will learn a lot if you do. It certainly takes a little
longer and it is not immediately what you are looking for.
The online support pages contain descriptions. I know Symantec support
pages are not really good but you can learn quickly how to navigate them
and how you will find the things you are looking for. If you spend the
time to figure it out, you'll know next time when you run into a problem
with a LiveUpdate error mesage and quickly find the solution to it.
Again, it takes time but it is worth to explore it anyway.
I know security sucks, because it limits the ways of the user. I know
people just want working security, security that is perfect but does not
interfere with anything (really anything) that the user does. If you
pamper the user, they usually get lame and aren't careful anymore. If
you tell them frankly that the only real big security threat to their
own system is likely the user himself, well, nobody wants to hear that
either. But, once there is a security problem the security people are
supposed to clean up the mess quickly...
I have seen too many people (and I don't say that you have to be one of
them) that figuratively speaking bought a tank to drive into the worst
neighborhood of your city (or L.A. or whereever you like). a) they did
not know how a tank works, b) they just want to know how to get the next
50m straight ahead and not how to navigate the tank and understand how
to use it properly, c) why do they want to go there anyway?
So it is certainly nice to know which steps to do to change your
settings now. I gave you a hint how to do it in general: found out about
the logging and figure out what your firewall is doing. This is
generally extremely helpful with any future to narrow down the problem
and as side-effect you learn how that thing works. Once you figured out
what part of your PFW is blocking and for what reason you can look into
the component and learn how to configure it. These are the usual steps
to learn how to use the thing if you have to use it. At the end you
would know how it works and how to fix the problem. And the same time
you learned a couple of more useful things that may be extremely helpful
for the next time... The only real security solution is the learning user.
Turning off a firewall is something you should not do unless you really
know what you are doing. People quickly suspect their firewall to cause
the problem and then turn it off to see if it works better. After a
while people have turned off the firewall for a couple of minutes, which
basically means that they stand in the internet naked and which is
enough in the internet to catch a severe cold or worse. If the only
solution to your problem is to turn your firewall off, then you are
either using the wrong software which is too complex or you did not
learn how to find the problem and fix it without turning it off. Turning
off a firewall is a clear indicate for me for exactly that. You never
ever "just" turn the firewall off. If you have a buglar alarm in your
house which blocks you from accessing some part of your own house or
that goes off all the time, switching it off is no solution. For your
own security you must learn how to fix a problem without turning the the
alarm off. If you don't manage, consider changing the system to
something easier to understand and use. It is just no use if you turn it
off frequently...
So, I really hope you had your computer updated because else...
But certainly, you don't have to know all this and you may just as well
ignore good advice. Who are you?
Gerald
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