Ports Closed ... Need Firewall?

[Quezacotl]

I ran this test, if all my ports but the RPC is closed do I need a firewall?

Thanks

- Quezacotl -

 

[Enyo]

The scan only represents a snap shot from the time the test was ran, with that in mind who is to say that one of those ports may become exposed with the launch of a application or service on your system.

A big part of firewalling is outbound protection which you currently have none of, you may become infected by a virus/trojan or any type of malware that has the ability to provide a back door to yor system, with a firewall in place you stand a chance of preventing that exposure.

Most test sites only scan common ports, you may be exposing something above the 1024 mark.

I would overall say if your on a high speed connection then you should firewall the box.

However, if you keep it patched and secure and use the correct Restrict Anonymous settings then you system is OK.

I recommend you go for the higher level of security unless you plan to keep a close eye on internet activity and activity of apps on your system.

 

[Quezacotl]

thanks for the response

I think i'll try the Sygate firewall ... I used to use norton .. but it slows the pc down to a crawl

can you or someone reccomend a better site to scan more ports?

Thanks

- Quezacotl -

 

[Kr0m]

Keep in mind that when someone probes you that if you have your firewall on a set properly, the 'prober' will not get a reply back from your computer and there's a good chance he'll move on to his next victim.

With no firewall running but and having just your ports closed, the 'prober' will get a reply telling him the port is closed, and may try harder to access your PC.

 

[Enyo]

computercops.biz offers a NMAP scan that is pretty good.

pcflank.com used to over a complete scan but i dont think they do so now.

dslreports.com 's Secure Me Now (Slow scan) is good

www.hackerwhacker.com is a nice bet

Then of course you have:

blackcode.com/scan
www.auditmypc.com
www.grc.com
scan.sygate.com

Also you may want to try Local Port Scanner (LPS) it performs a port scan on the local host. I had limited success with it however.

Also you could use SuperScan from foundstone to check your system from a remote host or even locally, i belive using "localhost" as the target will work.

Oh and why not give NMAP NT a blast if your on a LAN

 

[Quezacotl]

lol phew .. just a few eh?

well I put on Sygate 5 Pro ... and everything is stealthed and it passed everytest of theirs...

I also saw a post on browser security, only 1 med flaw (ie6)

and I fixed my clipbook exploit .. cuz I copy & paste lots

one question more, for a virus scanner ... pc cillin or mcaffee? which would you guys prefer? i have both

Thanks so much for all your help

- Quezacotl -

 

[Enyo]

PC Cillin 2003, i just switched to it myself.

Its great on system resourses and in the detection tests ive done its passed wonderfully

 

[Quezacotl]

Ok great thanks

Never tried that one yet...
Gonna go install it

Thanks for your help!

- Quezacotl -