Running without a firewall

[daveleau]

Hi everybody!

I am having some problems connecting at home with my current firewall setup (either Zone Alarm or BID). I can connect twice and then never again with both firewalls. This IS after I tell it to ignore stuff from my IP address at work.

My question is, on cable how would you go about configuring your system without a firewall. I have Tauscan (trojan scanner) and Jammer (registry lock that won't allow reg changes without authorization). Would you feel secure with only these two items running?

Can someoen remote control my system if they get into a port but cannot change the registry? And I do not store any critical files on my system. I have order stuff online with a credit card but that info is not stored on my system in an app like Quicken or anything.

What are your thoughts...
Thanks
daveleau

[elroy]

I installed Zone Alarm several weeks ago on my home system. Two machines connected with ICS. It works great. My guess is you have something configured wrong.

[MrCheap]

I agree with elroy, I have Zone Alarm installed using a cable modem and found that some of the programs will not work unless you have the allow server boxes clicked for both local and internet and you might want to even click the pass lock to see if that helps. You will have to use the pass lock for any e-mail program that goes out periodically to get mail.

[Dave_H]

I'm not familiar with Jammer but I did get this off there site:

Jammer is equipped with a Windows Registry monitor. Any attempt to modify the critical Windows Registry sections (at least 90% of Trojans do that) will result in a warning message appearing on screen that allows you to block the modification.

Be interesting to know what the other 10% are, hope there not the more common trojans.
I also don't know what they mean by "critical" registry sections, but I will assume that you don't get a warning for every single change made to your registry. Some of the trojans are getting sneaky and not loading from the common, and obvious run lines in the registry.
Remember that some are started off the win.ini and system.ini, and that the jerks that write these things are allways trying to keep a step ahead of the scanners.

As for configuring your system without a firewall. Shure that can be done, but you would have to test it quite often to make sure everything is O.K. Any kind of update or change to your system has the potential to change your settings.

Personally, my thoughts would be that since you already have these firewalls and scanners, try to continue using them. Once you find the configuration, or combination that works well for all your needs you will be better off.

Good luck Dave http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Dave

Edit- Had trouble there getting the quote to work -edit

[This message has been edited by Dave_H (edited 11-07-2000).]

[big_block_buick]

i've used zone alarm,lockdown 2000,and jammer.it might be the easiest to get past,but for me.its just as good.and by far the easiest to use(dont have to do anything).and i scan with lockdown.i feel safe enough.i might have had more input if a few months ago when a friends pc became infected with prettypark.exe .if my nortons didnt pick it up i would have found out if jammer would have stopped it.

[SithLord075]

Would BID & Jammer be enough protection for the typical PC user? I have purchased BID last December and was almost floored by the number of intrusion attempts through the @home service. However, after reading the Personal Firewall Comparison on this site, I was a little concerned that BID was not as effective as I assumed it to be. After reading about Jammer at it's company website, I'm curious to know what some of you Jammer users really think about it. Do firewalls protect your machine from someone attempting to compromise your e-mail messages? Sorry if that seemed like a dumb question...I'm still a little new to all of these security programs.

[RobRich]

Chech out these links for securing a system without a firewall:

http://grc.com/su-fixit.htm
http://grc.com/su-bondage.htm

Also, have you tried Sygate's Personal Firewall? From my recent testing, I rated it as a superior product as compared to most offerings currently available:

http://sysopt.earthweb.com/reviews/firewall/index5.html

Good Luck,
Robert Richmond

[Dave_H]

Thats a great section there on Steve Gibsons site on closing your ports. I did that on my work system quite a while ago, but never got around to doing it for my house. I just went thru it and all ports show as blocked without my BI or ZA running.
Here are some links to some great scanners in addition to the ones on the Gibson site. (More good links by Rob and Socalgal). http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/009240.html

Good luck Dave http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Dave

[daveleau]

BID and Jammer should suffice. I like BID but don't like that fact that it will not let me remote control the system with Timbuktu.
dave

[daveleau]

What sites are reputable that show how to conifgure a system w/o a firewall?
Dave