Firewall turns self off

[Guest]

I have reviewed many of the newsgroups having to do with the Firewall and its
behavior. None have addressed my issue. They system is turning off the
Firewall all by itself. I get the balloon warning that my computer may be at
risk. To correct the problem, click on balloon. I click, it takes me to the
security center, which shows the firewall is off. I sit watching it for a few
seconds (seems like minutes but then I tend to be impatient) and then it
turns on the firewall. The problem is that it keeps happening, many times a
day. I need some gently counseling, please.

--RoyL--

 

[B. Nice]

I have reviewed many of the newsgroups having to do with the Firewall and its
behavior. None have addressed my issue. They system is turning off the
Firewall all by itself. I get the balloon warning that my computer may be at
risk. To correct the problem, click on balloon. I click, it takes me to the
security center, which shows the firewall is off. I sit watching it for a few
seconds (seems like minutes but then I tend to be impatient) and then it
turns on the firewall. The problem is that it keeps happening, many times a
day. I need some gently counseling, please.

--RoyL--

Sounds like a malware issue to me.


My guess is (and it really is pure guessing, since I am not familiar
with the exact behaviour of the windows firewall, which I assume You
are talking about even though You don't mention that specifically):

1. A malware temporarily turns off Your firewall because it somehow
gets in it's way to perform some networking stuff.

2. Windows figures out that it is turned off and sends up a warning
balloon.

3. Malwares finishes its job and turns firewall back on.

4. Process repeats itself after a certain amount of time.


/B. Nice

 

[mike_210]

I have reviewed many of the newsgroups having to do with the Firewall and its
behavior. None have addressed my issue. They system is turning off the
Firewall all by itself. I get the balloon warning that my computer may be at
risk. To correct the problem, click on balloon. I click, it takes me to the
security center, which shows the firewall is off. I sit watching it for a few
seconds (seems like minutes but then I tend to be impatient) and then it
turns on the firewall. The problem is that it keeps happening, many times a
day. I need some gently counseling, please.

--RoyL-

hey there... i have the same problem with my computer! i was wondering
if you found out any info on how to stop this.

mike-

 

[Steven L Umbach]

I think that is a good assessment and that Roy should certainly check his
computer for malware. The firewall is enabled/disabled by configuring the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile\EnableFirewall:
registry key usually done through the user interface but could be done with
the netsh command or via a .reg file. Of course if another software firewall
is installed the operating system may detect that also and disable the
Windows Firewall. Trying to figure out exactly what is going on would entail
a lot of logging/auditing such as access to that registry key and process
tracking of events that happen just before the Windows Firewall was
disabled. Behavior like this is why I strongly recommend that any user with
a cable/DSL connection use an internet router as their first line of defense
for their network. --- Steve

 

[B. Nice]

hey there... i have the same problem with my computer! i was wondering
if you found out any info on how to stop this.

mike-

Yup. Talk to us, Roy. I'm curious too.

It could be malware problem, it could be a firewall conflict, it could
be...

/B. Nice