BROADBAND

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margie said:
Does leaving broadband on all the time increase the risk of attacks and
viruses.
Click to expand...

Since the risk of getting hacked is a non-zero number,
it is obviously proportional to the time you leave the
system on. It's the same with breathing: While you breathe
you risk picking up an air-borne virus. Stop breathing
and the risk is zero!

Fortunately there are effective but less drastic ways of
keeping out viruses and hackers. Install a firewall, and
install & maintain a good virus scanner.
 
margie said:
Does leaving broadband on all the time increase the risk of attacks and
viruses.
--
Click to expand...

There is no better value in system security than a simple broadband router,
such as the Linksys BEFSR41.

If you open a command prompt (Start-Run 'cmd.exe') and type 'ipconfig' and
press enter, then you will see your IP address. If that IP address does not
start with the number 10 or the number 192, then you are at a very high risk
anytime your computer is turned on and connected to the Internet.

carl
 
Vagabond Software said:
There is no better value in system security than a simple broadband router,
such as the Linksys BEFSR41.

If you open a command prompt (Start-Run 'cmd.exe') and type 'ipconfig' and
press enter, then you will see your IP address. If that IP address does not
start with the number 10 or the number 192, then you are at a very high risk
anytime your computer is turned on and connected to the Internet.

carl
Click to expand...

Why would that be, with a router installed?
 
Pegasus (MVP) said:
Why would that be, with a router installed?
Click to expand...

I'm not understanding what you are asking. The IP address would be
non-routable with a router installed. So, I gave instructions to check for
a routable IP address (not 10 or 192), which would mean margie's computer is
connected directly to the Internet.

carl
 
Vagabond Software said:
I'm not understanding what you are asking. The IP address would be
non-routable with a router installed. So, I gave instructions to check for
a routable IP address (not 10 or 192), which would mean margie's computer is
connected directly to the Internet.

carl
Click to expand...

So if the OP's PC was behind a router and had a
routable address, would her PC be exposed?
 
Pegasus (MVP) said:
So if the OP's PC was behind a router and had a
routable address, would her PC be exposed?
Click to expand...

Yes. That scenario would indicate some kind of configuration error. The
only way she could have a routable IP address behind the router is if she
mistakenly bypassed the router during cabling (don't laugh, it happens). If
she is properly cabled up to the router, the router takes the WAN IP address
from the broadband provider and issues a private, non-routable IP address to
the computer.

At that moment she is now automatically protected from all worms and port
scanning viruses.

carl
 
Vagabond Software said:
Yes. That scenario would indicate some kind of configuration error. The
only way she could have a routable IP address behind the router is if she
mistakenly bypassed the router during cabling (don't laugh, it happens). If
she is properly cabled up to the router, the router takes the WAN IP address
from the broadband provider and issues a private, non-routable IP address to
the computer.

At that moment she is now automatically protected from all worms and port
scanning viruses.

carl
Click to expand...

In this case every business that has PCs with routable addresses
is exposed, regardless of the existence of a router. Interesting...
 
Does leaving broadband on all the time increase the risk of attacks and
viruses.
Click to expand...

Having a computer connected to the internet for any length of time is a
risk, the longer the connection the greater the risk.

Risks can be reduced by several means, the first and most important is
to place a barrier device between your computer and the internet - a NAT
Router (like a Linksys BEFSR41) is the ideal starting point. Even with a
unpatched Windows computer just sitting there, a NAT Router in default
mode will keep it from getting compromised until you start using it.
 
So if the OP's PC was behind a router and had a
routable address, would her PC be exposed?
Click to expand...

If seen many DSL solutions that have a 192 address, but the router is
setup for forward ALL ports to the first LAN address - as they only
provide 1 DHCP IP. In the case I show, a 192 address would be just as
exposed as being live on the Internet.

IP Address doesn't matter, but having a barrier device does.
 
Leythos said:
If seen many DSL solutions that have a 192 address, but the router is
setup for forward ALL ports to the first LAN address - as they only
provide 1 DHCP IP. In the case I show, a 192 address would be just as
exposed as being live on the Internet.

IP Address doesn't matter, but having a barrier device does.
Click to expand...

This is what I thought.
 
In this case every business that has PCs with routable addresses
is exposed, regardless of the existence of a router. Interesting...
Click to expand...
Not true. If you are behind a firewall/router, your address schme does
not matter. But it is possible to bypass a home touter. Connect the modem
to a LAN port.
 
margie said:
Does leaving broadband on all the time increase the risk of attacks
and viruses.
Click to expand...


It has nothing to do with broadband. The longer you are connected to the
internet (whether by broadband or dialup) the greater the risk. Being
connected for two hours is twice the risk of being connected for one hour.

But do not interpret that to mean that you should rush to turn off your
internet connction. Instead you should minimize your risk by using
appropriate firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spyware software. Doubling a tiny
risk results in what is still a very small risk.
 
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