Norton Interent Security 2005

[Guest]

OK, no dummie here but....Norton Internet Security 2005 is driving my crazy.
I have shosen to disable the Internet Security "Firewall" portion and have
gone back to using the Firewall installed in XP Pro SP2. My issues with
Norton was that it came up with too many questions to block this connection
(reccomended), refuse this connection (reccomended) , blokck one, manually
configure etc....!!!!

Yet, for the average Joe, I had no idea what I was blocking or allowing. I
do not know if anyone else has experienced this or if anyone has any
suggestions on whether or not to stick with the Windows firewall and use the
Norton Anti-virus feature or go back to the Norton firewall and play hit and
miss on if I allow or block a legit threat! Any comments are apprecatied. I
also run Spybot Search and Destroy and keep coming up with DOS Exploits that
seem to reappear everytime I rin the program. I am just trying to do the best
I can to protect agains slimebag hackers, spammers, blockups etc...


Thanks much for any wisdom!
Regards,
Duane

 

[R. McCarty]

To resolve your second issue, download an updated version of
Spybot coded as Version 1.3-TX. That updated version will not
repeatedly find the 5-DSO exploits.

On the NIS Firewall issue - The Windows Firewall is an inbounds
only firewall, stopping unsolicited inbounds traffic. NIS, Zone Alarm
and others monitor traffic in both directions. Many firewalls have
tables of known/acceptable programs which "Quietly" allow known
programs access to the Internet. For anything unknown to them, it
will post the access prompt. Usually, you have Allow or Block and
then an additional option Always or Never, to prevent re-prompting
the next time that same application tries to access the web.

Personally, I've discontinued use of all Symantec products, including
NIS. For Firewall coverage I use the free version of Zone Alarm. It
also prompts for access, but has a easy table showing all programs
and how they are configured. You can quickly access the list and
modify any entries that you may have incorrectly granted access or
privileges.

NIS is better than the Windows Firewall, but there's no way to avoid
some user interaction with Firewalls.

 

[Dan]

The problem with Norton is that it has become a resource hog. There are
better alternatives out in cyber-world.

 

[Leythos]

OK, no dummie here but....Norton Internet Security 2005 is driving my crazy.
I have shosen to disable the Internet Security "Firewall" portion and have
gone back to using the Firewall installed in XP Pro SP2. My issues with
Norton was that it came up with too many questions to block this connection
(reccomended), refuse this connection (reccomended) , blokck one, manually
configure etc....!!!!

This is a problem with using a Personal Firewall Application on a home
computer - unless you know enough about security you don't know enough
to setup the rules.

So, the better option, if you have DSL or Cable, is to use a NAT box in
front of your PC between it and the DSL/Cable modem. The NAT box (about
$50 at your local computer store) will block all unsolicited inbound
traffic, but, don't fall for the marketing hype, NAT does not make the
device a Firewall.

Yet, for the average Joe, I had no idea what I was blocking or allowing. I
do not know if anyone else has experienced this or if anyone has any
suggestions on whether or not to stick with the Windows firewall and use the

My suggestion is to never buy a integrated Suite like that. Purchase NAV
2005, purchase ZoneAlarm, disable the MS Firewall in services. Run good
spyware tools (AdAware SE, Spybot 1.3), and don't use Outlook Express or
Internet Explorer in their default modes - set them to HIGH SECURITY as
MS suggests, or, even better, use a NON-MS based email client and
FireFox as your browser (just don't start installing all the plug-ins).

Norton Anti-virus feature or go back to the Norton firewall and play hit and
miss on if I allow or block a legit threat! Any comments are apprecatied. I
also run Spybot Search and Destroy and keep coming up with DOS Exploits that

The DSO thing is a flaw in SB 1.3 - check their site for additional
information about it.

Get that router/NAT box on your network - a cheap Linksys BEFSR41 will
protect you as well as any personal firewall app that you don't know how
to properly configure, actually, it may protect you better.

 

[Dan]

Do you know if Thunderbird is any good, if it is better than O.E. and if it
supports these newsgroups? I am already using Firefox as my default browser
and I use it for everything that I can except I have to use I.E. to access
the Windows Update Site.

 

[Leythos]

Do you know if Thunderbird is any good, if it is better than O.E. and if it
supports these newsgroups? I am already using Firefox as my default browser
and I use it for everything that I can except I have to use I.E. to access
the Windows Update Site.

Back when MS suggested that people not use IE (about 6 months ago) I
moved people to FireFox and ThunderBird (use to run Netscape for people
with POP accounts). With the exception of one or two banking sites, FF
has been perfect in all areas. Thunderbird is about the same as Netscape
and supports Usenet. You don't have to give up OE to use Thunderbird for
Usenet, you can run both on the same machine - try TB and see if you
like it.

 

[Malke]

Do you know if Thunderbird is any good, if it is better than O.E. and
if it
supports these newsgroups? I am already using Firefox as my default
browser and I use it for everything that I can except I have to use
I.E. to access the Windows Update Site.

Thunderbird supports nntp. Try it and see whether you like it:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

Malke

 

[Dan]

Thanks, Malke. I think I will give it a try in a day or two. BTW, excuse
my ignorance but what does nntp stand for and does Thunderbird use the same
protocals as Outlook Express. What I am trying to say is there an advantage
to using Outlook Express as opposed to Thunderbird. I am especially
interested in regards to the 98SE with Outlook Express because I like to
keep my system up to date. Also, with Microsoft support waning on 98SE I
wonder if using Thunderbird would make my system a little less likely to
have problems in regards to security. What do you think?

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Duane.

NIS is the only Norton product that I continue to use. (I started with
Norton Utilities 20 years ago when Peter Norton still was writing such
useful programs as DiskEdit.)

With NIS 2004, I had the same firewall issues you are describing. But since
installing NIS 2005, I've have very few popups asking me whether to allow
transmissions through the firewall. I'm not sure what made the difference,
but I think that I was more lenient in installing NIS2005, having suffered
the frustrations with 2004. I just let NIS 2005 configure itself to a
greater degree than I did with NIS 2004.

I generally practice "safe hex". Recent scans with Ad-Aware and Spybot -
Search & Destroy showed no significant problems. The beta of the new
Microsoft Anti-Spyware program was installed and run last week and it showed
no problems at all. Apparently, my NIS settings are now tweaked just about
right. ;<)

RC

 

[Malke]

Thanks, Malke. I think I will give it a try in a day or two. BTW,
excuse my ignorance but what does nntp stand for and does Thunderbird
use the same
protocals as Outlook Express. What I am trying to say is there an
advantage
to using Outlook Express as opposed to Thunderbird. I am especially
interested in regards to the 98SE with Outlook Express because I like
to
keep my system up to date. Also, with Microsoft support waning on
98SE I wonder if using Thunderbird would make my system a little less
likely to
have problems in regards to security. What do you think?

This is a *personal* preference, but I like using a dedicated newsreader
for Usenet (nntp servers). Thunderbird, like the Mozilla mail app, can
do email and newsgroups. Here are some links to information about
Usenet and also some other newsreaders for Windows:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page3.html#12-09-02 - a brief
explanation of newsgroups
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm
http://rickrogers.org/setupoe.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/support/news/howto/default.asp
- Set Up Newsreader

http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


http://aumha.org/nntp.htm - list of MS newsgroups
microsoft.public.test.here - MS group to test if your newsreader is
working properly

newsreaders:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php - for Forte
http://www.mozilla.org
http://gravity.tbates.org/

Malke

 

[Al Smith]

OK, no dummie here but....Norton Internet Security 2005 is driving my crazy.

I have shosen to disable the Internet Security "Firewall" portion and have
gone back to using the Firewall installed in XP Pro SP2. My issues with
Norton was that it came up with too many questions to block this connection
(reccomended), refuse this connection (reccomended) , blokck one, manually
configure etc....!!!!

Zone Alarm is about the easiest firewall to learn to use, and it
also happens to be one of the most reliable and secure. And it's
free. The free version won't bug you if you set it up properly,
which only takes a few minutes the first time you run it. You will
be required to make decisions from time to time -- specifically,
"Should I allow this program to access the Internet, or not?"
Unless you know exactly what the access is for, and what is making
it, the answer is "No".