How do I stop my PC from returning a "Ping"?

From: Bill (NoSpam_at_NoSpam.Com)
Date: 02/29/04 

Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 20:46:47 -0700

I just reloacted to AZ from FL and switched from Road Runner to
Comcast Cable,. Now according to GRC's ShieldsUP, the only flaw in my
Windows XP Home system is that it returns anonymous pings:

This is the error message I receive, Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED),
Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP Echo) requests, making it
visible on the Internet. Most personal firewalls can be configured to
block, drop, and ignore such ping requests in order to better hide
systems from hackers. This is highly recommended since "Ping" is among
the oldest and most common methods used to locate systems prior to
further exploitation.

Interestingly enough ShieldsUp did not report this problem when I was
with RR.

FWIW, I do have ZoneAlarm Pro, but have not fund any parameters I can
set to prevent my system from responding to these pings! How much of
a problem is this really, and what can I do to keep my systems from
responding to these pings?

TIA, Bill

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How do I stop my PC from returning a "Ping"?
    ... Hmmm, but "ping of death" attacks could be pretty major, should they occur! ... I'd make sure inbound ICMP was blocked...along with *all* inbound ports not ... If you have a router, then it is responding to the pings. ... > The ShieldsUp site is actually talking to your router, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: netfilter -> do you DROP or REJECT ?
    ... Ping itself can be used for certain DoS attacks by spoofing the return ... Some worms use ping to find IPs to attempt to attack, ... Dropping all packets you do not want to accept (not responding to SYN) ...
    (comp.os.linux.networking)
  • RE: DNS
    ... Microsoft Online Partner Support ... Get Secure! ... When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so ... Try to ping FQDN, not just computer name. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.migration)
  • Re: possibly hacked? Need some ideas please!
    ... >> a small office behind a hardware firewall. ... >> none of the services are responding including SSH. ... It responds to ping! ... >> I thought maybe the power went out and it is sitting waiting ...
    (alt.os.linux)
  • Internet Network issues
    ... >1) ping to the website ... well as ISP) ... >1) website is responding, no drop pings. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.networking)