personal firewall

[Eli Allen]

What's the point? I mean you have control as to the software installed so
you should be able to control your ports, right?

(I'm not talking about firewalls on the edge of a network)
--
Eli Allen
eallen@bcpl.net

[Joel Ryan]

I think the point is that you don't always know what software is installed
on your machine. A trojan can inadvertently be installed and it will listen
on a port. Personal firewalls try to control this by enforcing application
level security as to what app can access what part of the network. Granted,
if a machine on the inside of a network, an attacker outside on the Internet
could most likely not be able to reach the internal computer, but it's still a
risk. If the computer is on a large network, there could even be malicious
users on the internal network, scanning for these trojans.
Security aside, I like to know when programs are accessing the net. Every
so often, ZoneAlarm will detect an odd program trying to access the Internet.
For instance, a setup program 'phoning home'. Not that I mind that in
itself, but I do mind it when I don't specifically tell the setup program to
register or something.

-- Joel

Eli Allen wrote:

> What's the point? I mean you have control as to the software installed so
> you should be able to control your ports, right?
>
> (I'm not talking about firewalls on the edge of a network)
> --
> Eli Allen
> eallen@bcpl.net

[Michael Howard]

I had a chat with the WindowsXP personal firewall guys about this - their
premise is that mom 'n' pop have no clue what's on the box, let alone what
a port is. to pop, port is something you drink, or it's the left-hand side
of the boat!

"Eli Allen" <eallen@bcpl.net> wrote:
>What's the point? I mean you have control as to the software installed
so
>you should be able to control your ports, right?
>
>(I'm not talking about firewalls on the edge of a network)
>--
>Eli Allen
>eallen@bcpl.net
>
>

[Eli Allen]

Trojans should be detected with an anti-virus, not a firewall. What happens
if the trojan is sitting on a port you left open?
--
Eli Allen
eallen@bcpl.net

"Joel Ryan" <jryan@vsi-hq.com> wrote in message
news:3ABF99C1.3F11AF37@vsi-hq.com...
>
> I think the point is that you don't always know what software is
installed
> on your machine. A trojan can inadvertently be installed and it will
listen
> on a port. Personal firewalls try to control this by enforcing
application
> level security as to what app can access what part of the network.
Granted,
> if a machine on the inside of a network, an attacker outside on the
Internet
> could most likely not be able to reach the internal computer, but it's
still a
> risk. If the computer is on a large network, there could even be
malicious
> users on the internal network, scanning for these trojans.
> Security aside, I like to know when programs are accessing the net.
Every
> so often, ZoneAlarm will detect an odd program trying to access the
Internet.
> For instance, a setup program 'phoning home'. Not that I mind that in
> itself, but I do mind it when I don't specifically tell the setup program
to
> register or something.
>
> -- Joel
>
> Eli Allen wrote:
>
> > What's the point? I mean you have control as to the software installed
so
> > you should be able to control your ports, right?
> >
> > (I'm not talking about firewalls on the edge of a network)
> > --
> > Eli Allen
> > eallen@bcpl.net
>

[Joel Ryan]

a decent personal firewall will detect a program trying to open a port and
require that you authorize a certain program to open a certain port and sct
as a server. an anti-virus should detect the virus first, but it helps to
have another line of defense. it's application level security, not ip/port
security.

-- Joel

"Eli Allen" <eallen@bcpl.net> wrote in message
news:3ac0a35d$1@news.devx.com...
> Trojans should be detected with an anti-virus, not a firewall. What
happens
> if the trojan is sitting on a port you left open?
> --
> Eli Allen
> eallen@bcpl.net
>
> "Joel Ryan" <jryan@vsi-hq.com> wrote in message
> news:3ABF99C1.3F11AF37@vsi-hq.com...
> >
> > I think the point is that you don't always know what software is
> installed
> > on your machine. A trojan can inadvertently be installed and it will
> listen
> > on a port. Personal firewalls try to control this by enforcing
> application
> > level security as to what app can access what part of the network.
> Granted,
> > if a machine on the inside of a network, an attacker outside on the
> Internet
> > could most likely not be able to reach the internal computer, but it's
> still a
> > risk. If the computer is on a large network, there could even be
> malicious
> > users on the internal network, scanning for these trojans.
> > Security aside, I like to know when programs are accessing the net.
> Every
> > so often, ZoneAlarm will detect an odd program trying to access the
> Internet.
> > For instance, a setup program 'phoning home'. Not that I mind that in
> > itself, but I do mind it when I don't specifically tell the setup
program
> to
> > register or something.
> >
> > -- Joel
> >
> > Eli Allen wrote:
> >
> > > What's the point? I mean you have control as to the software
installed
> so
> > > you should be able to control your ports, right?
> > >
> > > (I'm not talking about firewalls on the edge of a network)
> > > --
> > > Eli Allen
> > > eallen@bcpl.net
> >
>
>