firewall

[Guest]

Sorry for all the questions about this DSL and firewall but I'm new to all of it. I had problems with Norton Firewall after I got DSl so I uninstalled it and downloaded zone alarm pro. Before I got DSL I ran a test called shields up from Gibson Research with Norton as my firewall. It passed every test, Stealthed every port and worked great. With DSL ( ADSL Broadband Router) the same test showed 3 ports stealthed and every other port said "Your computer has responded that this port exists but is currently closed to connections" I just tried the same thing with Zone Alarm Pro and get the same exact findings on the Shields up tests. I had both firewalls do the program scan and auto configure. It even got the same findings with no firewall installed, just the ADSL Router. So PLEASE can somebody tell me in a very easy to understand way (I dont know all this terminology you all use on here), What am I doing wrong. I want the same results with DSL as I had with dial up. With dial up the test results came back saying that as far as "anybody" including Gibson research was concerned my computer was never there, it couldnt be found no mater how many times they tried to get access. So far the only benifit I'm seeing with the firewall is ads are blocked and it allows you to block / hide private info.

 

[Guest]

Chuck, Firewalls have been confusing because of the sale of 3rd party software. There is a threat though that you shouldn't ignore. You say you have a DSL modem connected to a router. That's really enough protection from everyone but yourself. For added protection, I use Zone Alarm Pro too as it reminds me if something is messing with my computer or if I'm trying something shaky by allowing someone to download into my system. Set the Zone Alarm to Firewall/High/Internet and see if Gibson's site returns all stealth. The SP 2 upgrade will also have a pretty effective firewall included; one that will work well with your home network. In summary, you are protected by the Router's firewall unless you OK and d/l something harmful. Zone Alarm is a good tool that blends well with the Router. Upgrade to SP 2 when it's available.

 

[Manny Carvalho]

This is most likely due to the fact that the test was conducted on your
router and not your PC. Your router is probably blocking unsolicited
traffic. Please look in your firewall blocked logs, which probably have
considerably less traffic now, and see if you have any traffic from the
ShieldsUp IP address. If you don't, this indicates that your router was
tested not your PC. To test your PC you will need to bypass the blocking
done by the router or use dialup.

To obtain stealth results you need to configure your router to not respond
to any connection attempts. However, the only difference between a closed
and stealthed port is that a closed port responds that it's closed while a
stealthed port remains silent. Whether that adds much to your security is a
matter of debate.

Manny Carvalho
MVP- Windows Shell/User

| Sorry for all the questions about this DSL and firewall but I'm new
to all of it. I had problems with Norton Firewall after I got DSl so I
uninstalled it and downloaded zone alarm pro. Before I got DSL I ran a test
called shields up from Gibson Research with Norton as my firewall. It passed
every test, Stealthed every port and worked great. With DSL ( ADSL
Broadband Router) the same test showed 3 ports stealthed and every other
port said "Your computer has responded that this port exists but is
currently closed to connections" I just tried the same thing with Zone
Alarm Pro and get the same exact findings on the Shields up tests. I had
both firewalls do the program scan and auto configure. It even got the same
findings with no firewall installed, just the ADSL Router. So PLEASE can
somebody tell me in a very easy to understand way (I dont know all this
terminology you all use on here), What am I doing wrong. I want the same
results with DSL as I had with dial up. With dial up the test results came
back saying that as far as "anybody" including Gibson research was concerned
my computer was never there, it couldnt be found no mater how many times
they tried to get access. So far the only benifit I'm seeing with the
firewall is ads are blocked and it allows you to block / hide private info.