Shields Up! - check your computer's ports to see if they visible on the Internet

[spacejamz]

I remember using this site awhile back (over 10 years ago)...

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 - click the PROCEED button if you want to scan your system

Anyone use this site today? are the results reliable?

 

[IronWing]

Very dangerous, you go first.

 

[olds]

Site looks very different but it may be the original guy that came up with Shields Up.

 

[WilliamM2]

Site looks exactly the same as it did 15+ years ago. It's safe, not sure how reliable.

 

[skyking]

Your exposure pathway?
Your router has a port forwarded in to your network in some manner.
If you don't know what you are doing, that can happen. The default behavior is to drop packets on the floor from the outside.

 

[Iron Woode]

I remember GRC fondly. He did a lot of research into windows security.

 

[Ajay]

Yeah, that's legit.

 

[Muadib]

I remember GRC fondly. He did a lot of research into windows security.

He has a podcast now on Leo Laport's network. I used to listen to it at work.

 

[MtnMan]

Steve Gibson's greatest achievement was SpinRite. I have used it from the 90's when the first versions came out. It has repaired numerous disk errors over the years, from PC's that wouldn't boot to recovering files that operating systems couldn't read. Wife lost a bunch of pics on her laptop's dying drive then it would no longer boot. Took SpinRite several days, but it allowed me to recovery every file. I was then able to copy to the new drive I installed in her laptop.

But note I used the word "was" his greatest achievement. He has talked about, hinted, promised and updated version that will work with modern BIOS and UEFI machines and new larger drives.. for at least 10 years.

I still own a copy, have it on bootable CD or USB, but it is totally worthless any more. I don't have a single machine in use I can use it on. I do have an old PC with IDA and SATA, and even though it is OK with the BIOS, it still can't repair the drives due to the structure of larger drives.

Last time I actually contacted SGR, I was basically blown off.

Which really pisses me off, that one program has generated a nice income, so he can putter with all the other stuff he is into, while totally blowing off those that purchased SpinRite, which all him to do that.

 

[Artorias]

Learned a few new things today from that site(certificate fingerprints). Sites a bit old school but has quality information.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Woah that's a blast from the past. Cool to see the site is still around. It's a decent way to double check you don't have any oddball ports that are not suppose to be open. If you are not hosting any kind of service or torrents etc there should be no ports open. An open port on it's own is not bad, but it means that there is a service that is exposed, so if that service has a vulnerability or is using weak authentication (ex: FTP with crap password) then it could be a way in.

 

[Spacehead]

Steve Gibson's greatest achievement was SpinRite. I have used it from the 90's when the first versions came out. It has repaired numerous disk errors over the years, from PC's that wouldn't boot to recovering files that operating systems couldn't read. Wife lost a bunch of pics on her laptop's dying drive then it would no longer boot. Took SpinRite several days, but it allowed me to recovery every file. I was then able to copy to the new drive I installed in her laptop.

But note I used the word "was" his greatest achievement. He has talked about, hinted, promised and updated version that will work with modern BIOS and UEFI machines and new larger drives.. for at least 10 years.

I still own a copy, have it on bootable CD or USB, but it is totally worthless any more. I don't have a single machine in use I can use it on. I do have an old PC with IDA and SATA, and even though it is OK with the BIOS, it still can't repair the drives due to the structure of larger drives.

Last time I actually contacted SGR, I was basically blown off.

Which really pisses me off, that one program has generated a nice income, so he can putter with all the other stuff he is into, while totally blowing off those that purchased SpinRite, which all him to do that.

I still listen to his weekly podcast. He took a long time off from working on Spin Rite to work on SQRL:
Secure Quick Reliable Login
SQRL Forums

He's now back to working on a new version of Spin Rite.

Yeah, his site could use an updated look for sure.

 

[lxskllr]

Yeah, his site could use an updated look for sure

I disagree. The site's from a different time for sure, but that time was when sites loaded fast, without Russian doll nested js libraries. It tells you what you need to know, and conserves resources. It's pretty close to the perfect site.

 

[MtnMan]

I still listen to his weekly podcast. He took a long time off from working on Spin Rite to work on SQRL:
Secure Quick Reliable Login
SQRL Forums

He's now back to working on a new version of Spin Rite.

Yeah, his site could use an updated look for sure.

I don't follow the Security Now podcasts as I used to, still scan some for topics.

I know that SQRL took his attention, like my dog when he sees a squirrel on the deck.

My point of contention is... there are many alternatives to SQRL Lastpass is an excellent product for managing logins, generating passwords, auto logins, etc..

But there is nothing out there that even comes close to SpinRite, and what it can do to save drives and recover data that is unreadable without exotic recovery hardware and tools, and good intentions on his part don't help me a bit. Unless you've got some 10 - 15 year old hardware, it is useless, and has been for at least 5 years. The current version was released in July 2004.

As for his site appearance, that is really trivial, except those impressed by glitz and graphics and don't care about function.

 

[Spacehead]

@MtnMan
Not sure what to say. Apparently there are still some if not many that still do use it.

Lastpass is a password manager. SQRL does away with any more username/password combos. So it is a bit different


As for the sites look... yeah you don't need a bunch of JS for it to function but it could be tidied up a but, IMO. I really don't care about that though myself.

 

[zinfamous]

Steve Gibson's greatest achievement was SpinRite. I have used it from the 90's when the first versions came out. It has repaired numerous disk errors over the years, from PC's that wouldn't boot to recovering files that operating systems couldn't read. Wife lost a bunch of pics on her laptop's dying drive .....

pics of wife's, er...pics?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I disagree. The site's from a different time for sure, but that time was when sites loaded fast, without Russian doll nested js libraries. It tells you what you need to know, and conserves resources. It's pretty close to the perfect site.

I hate most modern sites as well, wish more sites used the early 2000's approach myself. What annoys me the most is all the interactive crap like modals and slide bars and other BS like that. Often it just impedes on trying to actually use the site.

 

[MtnMan]

@MtnMan
Lastpass is a password manager. SQRL does away with any more username/password combos. So it is a bit different

Only if that site supports SQRL, and apparently that is still a really small number at this point. Searches for sites that support it really come up empty, 18 months after he released it. Sure some security heads have written the server side pieces, and for Android, and "i" things.

It's a great concept, and he is right about how archaic the username/password is, 40+ years old. What has changed aside from password length, numbers, special character enforcement. Even Gibson says it would be grate to include it into LastPass. Many have probably put more into 2FA than it would take to implement SQRL, but 2FA doesn't require SQRL clients on end user devices.

Otherwise it is not a replacement for a pw manager, you are still going to need the 40 year old user/pass method, perhaps with 2FA.

 

[MtnMan]

@MtnMan
Not sure what to say. Apparently there are still some if not many that still do use it.

The below is from a rather tame Dell Inspiron laptop, i5 processor and 500 gig drive, purchased in 2014. Nothing exotic, not a huge drive, just run of the mill laptop the wife used. And when it had issues ....


Contact GRC support and they said.... sorry! This was over 2 years ago.

The reason all of this works under Windows is that Windows completely
ignores the BIOS once the system has initially booted. (SpinRite
will also be doing that in v6.1, but not yet.) So even on systems
where the BIOS is old and newer larger drives are added, Windows is
okay but SpinRite gets put off.

I'm sure sorry we couldn't resolve this issue. If you purchased with
the last 30-days, and wish to get a refund, please eMail our sales
department <sales2018@grc.com> and include your order information
along with a statement that have deleted all copies of SpinRite.