Hmm, how dangerous is taking off all firewall features for a few minutes?

[imported_Ziggy]

I'm running tweak tests, and it wont work with that stuff on. Does this make hackers happy? How long do they need to start messing with stuff?

 

[notfred]

On your home PC that no hacker gives a crap about anyway? I've never run a firewall at home since I first got on the internet in 1994, and I've never had a problem. These software firewalls are jsut peace of mind for the paranoid, they don't seem to offer any real protection from any real threats.

 

[shimsham]

i turned mine off for about 6hrs the other day with no problems. i get better torrent speeds with it off. i know a few people with broadband that dont even have a clue as to what a firewall is, and they have had no problems yet. maybe theyre just lucky?

 

[Mo0o]

If you are at home I wouldn't worry about it. If you are on a college network then theres definitely something to worry about. 3 minutes after reforming my computer, before i installed anti-viral and firewall, i got hit with gaobot

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: notfred
On your home PC that no hacker gives a crap about anyway? I've never run a firewall at home since I first got on the internet in 1994, and I've never had a problem. These software firewalls are jsut peace of mind for the paranoid, they don't seem to offer any real protection from any real threats.

And on a rare occassion I agree with notfred.

 

[AlienCraft]

I turned Zone Alarm off to download some MS updates. Was hit by 3 worms and a backdoor trojan within the <5 minutes it took to DL. Had to re-format to get rid of them.
I wouldn't do it unless you want to be a SPAM server.

 

[Fritzo]

If you're running WinXP or 2000 and do not have any windows updates on it, you'll probably get infected with the Blaster or Welcha worm within 5-10 minutes. Other than that, it shouldn't hurt anything for a few minutes.

 

[imported_Ziggy]

Ok good,

Edit: Bah, your making me paranoid. Should I run a fully virus scan after?

I usually have router firewall and Zonealarm. I like to know what programs are asking for net access

 

[Feldenak]

The only firewall I have is the one built into my router...don't think I've ever configured it though.

 

[vi edit]

If you are behind a nat device I wouldn't worry about it at all.

If you are directly connected to the 'net, so long as you are patched up and turn off windows messaging I wouldn't worry *too much*.

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: notfred
On your home PC that no hacker gives a crap about anyway? I've never run a firewall at home since I first got on the internet in 1994, and I've never had a problem. These software firewalls are jsut peace of mind for the paranoid, they don't seem to offer any real protection from any real threats.

ditto except I've been on since '95 IIRC

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: notfred
On your home PC that no hacker gives a crap about anyway? I've never run a firewall at home since I first got on the internet in 1994, and I've never had a problem. These software firewalls are jsut peace of mind for the paranoid, they don't seem to offer any real protection from any real threats.

You might like to think that, but you would be wrong. 99% of these "hackers" are either automatic scripts scanning IP ranges or random IPs for any vulnerable hosts. Or moron script kiddies doing pretty much the same thing.

They're not looking for important information, they are just looking to be jackasses and cause trouble. Most of the worms are just looking for zombies to use in DDOS attacks, and what better target than an unsuspecting computer-illiterate rube's always-active broadband connection?

That said, if you've got antivirus running and all of the latest patches from Windows Update, you don't have too much to worry about, but I would go back behind the firewall ASAP.

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: notfred
On your home PC that no hacker gives a crap about anyway? I've never run a firewall at home since I first got on the internet in 1994, and I've never had a problem. These software firewalls are jsut peace of mind for the paranoid, they don't seem to offer any real protection from any real threats.

And on a rare occassion I agree with notfred.

:Q

 

[Fiveohhh]

Originally posted by: notfred
On your home PC that no hacker gives a crap about anyway? I've never run a firewall at home since I first got on the internet in 1994, and I've never had a problem. These software firewalls are jsut peace of mind for the paranoid, they don't seem to offer any real protection from any real threats.

I use zonalarm not to protect something from coming in but more to protect something from going out that I don't want to go out

 

[nakedfrog]

Bad idea. You're likely to wake up in a seedy hotel bathtub full of ice with a scar where your kidney used to be.

 

[imported_Ziggy]

lol

 

[Yax]

I saw hellboy.

The bad guys opened up a hole in the firewall for only a few minutes and a virus got in, but if you're smart, you can change this virus and use it to your advantage.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: notfred
On your home PC that no hacker gives a crap about anyway? I've never run a firewall at home since I first got on the internet in 1994, and I've never had a problem. These software firewalls are jsut peace of mind for the paranoid, they don't seem to offer any real protection from any real threats.

amen