Internet Security - What You Should Know!

[Xeon]

I thought some of you may be interested in reading the small article that deals with internet security. You can check it out HERE

 

[CTho9305]

You can't link to shields up the way you did. BTW, gibson is a paranoid nut who loves attention, IMHO .

edit: You have fixed the Shields Up! link.

 

[Xeon]

Following is the full text of the Link above.

Many people on the net today are more aware then they were even just a few years ago about the importance of Internet security, primarily because the safety of their personal information depends upon it.

With all of the things we now all keep on our computers, it's vital that you arm and protect ALL unauthorized access to your sensative information.

You may not even be aware of how open your entire computer is to the world, but trust me there are plenty of people who do, just from doing a simple scan of your computer they can find the doorways (ports) that are wide open for them to gain access of not only your personal information, but to use your system as a machine they can use to exploit other peoples systems.

If you've never done a scan on your own machine, or don't know how, I highly recommend that you visit Steve's site and have it test your computer to determine if your machine is at risk. I've been using Steve's site for years and it can, in a matter of just a couple of minutes, tell you where your vulnerable.

Follow the link below and click test your ports and have his site scan you so you can see where you stand. If you don't have a Firewall already setup I highly recommend that you either go purchase one or use one of the great free Firewall's that are out there. As a matter of fact one of the best firewall's that you can use on your windows systems is completely free and it's called ZoneAlarm. This little program is packed full of features and actually does a better job of keeping you protected than a lot of the Firewalls you can buy. I highly recommend it if you don't have the money to purchase one of the other really great firewalls that are out there.

Follow the link below to do a free scan of your machine to find out where you stand. Regardless if you have a firewall or not you will probably be very surprised by the results. The best overall score you can hope to achieve through this scan is to reach a STEALTH status on all ports, so check it out and see where you stand so that you can block or correct the holes in your system. Click the link below and navagate to the Shields Up Link.

Shields Up

Once you've determined where you stand, Steve has some of the best information and utilities on the Net that you can find to help you block and/or correct the holes in your system so I highly recommend doing all the things he suggests to keep your system safe.

I hope you find this information useful and informative.

 

[Xeon]

Originally posted by: CTho9305
You can't link to shields up the way you did. BTW, gibson is a paranoid nut who loves attention, IMHO .

Well everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

He provides a service that works, and his site explains things in such a way that even the most novice of Online people can grasp the concepts of security and how things work.

 

[onelin]

I love ShieldsUP.

 

[theAnimal]

Here is a very comprehensive firewall test.

 

[Jeff7181]

Sweet... I'm already fully stealthy

BTW... here's another Port Scan at dslreports.com

 

[Bucksnort]

Originally posted by: CTho9305
You can't link to shields up the way you did. BTW, gibson is a paranoid nut who loves attention, IMHO .

You are stupid, don't talk if you don't know what you are talking about.

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: Bucksnort

Originally posted by: CTho9305
You can't link to shields up the way you did. BTW, gibson is a paranoid nut who loves attention, IMHO .

You are stupid, don't talk if you don't know what you are talking about.

Facts please.
edit: He sensationalized his DDoS attack and has up a very long description of it... and seriously exaggerates the importance of "stealth" vs closed. Does he still write everything in "100% pure assembly"?

.

Information is leaking from web browsers?
Yes, absolutely, and frighteningly so. The often repeated claims that "no user identifiable information is being sent or collected" is just so much nonsense. Those statements are meant to lull trusting and uninformed Internet users into a false sense of privacy and security.

GASP!!! OH NOES!!! The world knows I run Mozilla on XP and accept gzip and deflate compression!

What's the "Referer" header?
The web's HTTP protocol was designed with little concern for a web surfer's privacy and well before aggressive commercial interests decided to track surfers across the web, while storing and compiling any personal information that might leak from their browser.

super-

.

Scanners?

Oh yes. Many Internet scanners specifically seek out and locate Windows file and printer shares (see samples below), whether they are protected by passwords or not! Malicious computer vandals leave these scanners running night and day collecting IP addresses ? one of them might be yours! ? then they "map" that drive's shares onto their local drive letters to gain total access to your computer's files!

Funny he didn't say that if there IS a password on the share, they won't be able to get your data without first cracking your password.

 

[Xeon]

Originally posted by: CTho9305

Originally posted by: Bucksnort

Originally posted by: CTho9305
You can't link to shields up the way you did. BTW, gibson is a paranoid nut who loves attention, IMHO .

You are stupid, don't talk if you don't know what you are talking about.

Facts please.
edit: He sensationalized his DDoS attack and has up a very long description of it... and seriously exaggerates the importance of "stealth" vs closed. Does he still write everything in "100% pure assembly"?

.

Information is leaking from web browsers?
Yes, absolutely, and frighteningly so. The often repeated claims that "no user identifiable information is being sent or collected" is just so much nonsense. Those statements are meant to lull trusting and uninformed Internet users into a false sense of privacy and security.

GASP!!! OH NOES!!! The world knows I run Mozilla on XP and accept gzip and deflate compression!

What's the "Referer" header?
The web's HTTP protocol was designed with little concern for a web surfer's privacy and well before aggressive commercial interests decided to track surfers across the web, while storing and compiling any personal information that might leak from their browser.

super-

.

Scanners?

Oh yes. Many Internet scanners specifically seek out and locate Windows file and printer shares (see samples below), whether they are protected by passwords or not! Malicious computer vandals leave these scanners running night and day collecting IP addresses ? one of them might be yours! ? then they "map" that drive's shares onto their local drive letters to gain total access to your computer's files!

Funny he didn't say that if there IS a password on the share, they won't be able to get your data without first cracking your password.

LOL, well the good news is, YOU DON'T HAVE TO VISIT HIS SITE!

Despite your griping, there is a lot of useful information there and that is a FACT. His scanners work well and DO let you know where you may have vulnerabilities. There are thousands of sites like his, so just pick another if you don't like what he offers, it's simple.

 

[Xeon]

Originally posted by: theAnimal
Here is a very comprehensive firewall test.

Yep this is a good, I've used it for quite awhile as well.

 

[Xeon]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Sweet... I'm already fully stealthy

BTW... here's another Port Scan at dslreports.com

Hmm for some reason this one won't show the info on my system. It could be because I'm already locked tight Heh!

Don't you just love it when you see the Green Stealth's

 

[Jeff7181]

Please tell me you're not arguing about this guy's credibility...

... oh well, at least it's another AMD vs. Intel or nVidia vs. ATI debate.

 

[Kappo]

Originally posted by: Bucksnort

Originally posted by: CTho9305 You can't link to shields up the way you did. BTW, gibson is a paranoid nut who loves attention, IMHO .

You are stupid, don't talk if you don't know what you are talking about.

I think that is pretty uncalled for. If the best you can do is create a personal attack on someone who has an opinion you should consider redirecting that comment at yourself.


FYI : I like the site but realize the guy has a different perspective on what security is. I do not consider people knowing what browser I use as "personal information", but hey...I get the idea.

Good link for people who dont know what security is.

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Please tell me you're not arguing about this guy's credibility...

... oh well, at least it's another AMD vs. Intel or nVidia vs. ATI debate.

I'm not arguing that he isn't credible, I'm arguing that he doesn't present his (generally good) info well.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Always been a llama in my view.

 

[Nothinman]

Always been a llama in my view.

True. He cried and cried about the ability to create raw sockets in XP too when every other OS (not counting Win9X since it's not a real OS) in the world has had that ability for years and it's limited to admin accounts. Said it'll be terrible almost to the point of taking the Internet down because it'll make worms and DDoS attacks so much easier, well XP's been out for a while and the Internet still works and I think I get more problems from IIS boxes that still have CodeRed or Nimda than I ever saw from something using raw sockets on XP.

He's the boy who cried wolf, he generally knows what he's talking about but he plays it in such a way that it makes him look like a fool and he does it every chance he gets so eventually you get tired of hearing him and just start ignoring him. There are much better places for security information on the Internet.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
he generally knows what he's talking about but he plays it in such a way that it makes him look like a fool and he does it every chance he gets so eventually you get tired of hearing him and just start ignoring him.

Well put. That's pretty much exactly how I feel about him.

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Always been a llama in my view.

True. He cried and cried about the ability to create raw sockets in XP too when every other OS (not counting Win9X since it's not a real OS) in the world has had that ability for years and it's limited to admin accounts. Said it'll be terrible almost to the point of taking the Internet down because it'll make worms and DDoS attacks so much easier, well XP's been out for a while and the Internet still works and I think I get more problems from IIS boxes that still have CodeRed or Nimda than I ever saw from something using raw sockets on XP.

He's the boy who cried wolf, he generally knows what he's talking about but he plays it in such a way that it makes him look like a fool and he does it every chance he gets so eventually you get tired of hearing him and just start ignoring him. There are much better places for security information on the Internet.

Ah, yes, I forgot about his raw sockets rant.

 

[Xeon]

LOL, ok look guys, I think your losing site of what this thread was all about and why I posted to begin with.

It's not about if the guy goes on rants or exagerates some of the data presented. It's about making peoples systems secure. Most don't even know they have a problem or that they have ports wide open that CAN be exploited.

It's a tool to help users identify where they stand today and how they can protect themselves in the future. It's not popularity contest. I could have picked from thousands of other sites that could have helped users Identify these things the same way, but I feel his site offers simplicity that most of the others don't and was the only reason why I suggested it as this kind of tool.

So please, let's get back on track and discuss how users can first easily Identify where they may have holes and then discuss how they can correct them, this is the heart of what this post was all about.

Thanks goes to all those that have provided Constructive feedback and suggestions for this thread.

See ya.

 

[Nothinman]

Most don't even know they have a problem or that they have ports wide open that CAN be exploited.

Ports can't be exploited unless something is listening on them that can be exploited, the different between CLOSED and STEALTH is negligable and people make way too big of a deal about it.

It's not about if the guy goes on rants or exagerates some of the data presented

Yes it is, because it shows that he either doesn't understand the real impact of the issue or he's just trying to scare people into reading his site, either reason is enough for me to ignore him and badmouth him when I get a chance. To give really sound security advice you have to be objective and he's not. Hell he writes all his apps in 100% assembly for god knows why and in all seriousness that makes his apps less secure because asm is more prone to mistakes than a higher language like Java or even C. I'm glad he doesn't do software development for a living because A) his software wouldn't run on the majority of my machines and B) he'd have more problems than anyone else I can think of just because he likes asm so much.

 

[tooltime]

i like this site. symantec also has a good online security check tool

http://security.norton.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym