Security

Because of the sheer variety and sometimes difficult setup of programs like Firewall software and Network Monitoring software, we cannot give detailed instructions on how to setup Firewall programs. We can however, give hints and suggestions on how to setup such software to help minimize attacks against your computer from people on the Internet.

Please be aware that since we are not giving detailed instructions on how to setup items such as a Firewall or other methods of security, we also will not be giving technical support for anything supplied here. The reason for this is Firewalls and other software are simply too complicated to easily troubleshoot and configure. As a result we recommend if you are having problems accessing web pages or email - you should temporarily disable your Firewall and other security programs - then try whatever was not working before calling tech support as some of these programs have a tendency to interfere and interrupt common Internet-related functions. If you are still having the same exact problems without the Firewall or other security program running, then contact us.

I cannot stress enough the importance of a firewall on our system. Your computer is online all the time and this gives would be hackers more time to try and break into your system. You can download a free firewall from Zone Alarm here. You can also buy a firewall from Symantec here. If you have troubles installing or running these programs, make sure you read their online documentation. You can usually find the answer pretty quick. I prefer Zone Alarm because of its ease of use and its free!

The above firewalls will set themselves up automatically, but I thought it would be good that you knew sort of what is going on in the background. So below is a sort of primer on how information is passed on the internet:

You may have noticed that in your email program, web browser or FTP program that certain settings require ports in order to send and/or receive data. Commonly-used ports are 80 (HTTP), 25 (SMTP), 21 (FTP), 143 (IMAP) and 110 (POP3). If you are unfamiliar with these protocols, HTTP is for web pages (stands for Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol), SMTP is for sending mail (stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), FTP is for file transfers to FTP servers (stands for File Transfer Protocol), IMAP is for an incoming mail protocol that leaves downloaded mail on the server (stands for Internet Message Access Protocol), and POP3 is for incoming mail that moves your email from the server to the machine (stands for Post Office Protocol 3). However, without trying to confuse you even more then you probably are already, these are not the only ports your computer can access. Technically, 65,535 ports can be accessed by your computer either via incoming or outgoing connections, although you will use far less then this during your normal Internet activities.

Aside from the above description of ports a Firewall (at its most basic function) simply closes any ports that your computer is not using. Windows, while trying to be as user-friendly as possible, also has a tendency to be less secure then what most people would like, and this is an example of that. Technically, once someone knows your IP address, they can then use these open and unused ports to connect and send unwanted data to your computer. However, most firewalls also have the tendency to stop ports that you may be trying to use (such as SMTP if you are trying to send email out, or HTTP if you are trying to view web pages). This is where the difficulty of setting up a firewall begins. You can test the security of your system to open ports by selecting scan computer security here.

Some customers have purchased Linksys routers that provide some protection from hackers. This is done by hiding the IP address's of the computers on the inside of their network. Hackers cannot easily find them so its safer. The only true hardware protection is from a stateful firewall protection system. Linksys has some out with a new Statefull firewall device that seems to be very good. I would only look at this if you have more than one computer running.

I will be adding more info here so check back later.

Les

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