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What You Need To Protect Yourself
In addition to the above software you'll need a few things: Software firewall - Windows XP's built-in firewall isn't enough. 3rd party firewalls offer protection and configurations that Windows Firewall doesn't. Did you know that Windows Firewall only protects inbound communications and not outbound? Firewall router - If you connect to the Internet via a broadband connection, buy a good hardware firewall router. Most quality cable/DSL routers have firewalls built-in today. Many people buy these to share an Internet connection, not knowing the built-in protection that these devices offer. Even if you only have one computer connected to the Internet you should have this. Configured correctly, it is an excellent first layer of defense against crackers (more on this later). Basic firewall routers are not expensive; many on-line shops sell name-brand ones for as little as $50 (US). Options the router should include: · Network Address Translation (NAT) - This hides the IP address of the computer you are on to computers outside your home network. Please understand that NAT is not, and never was, intended to be a "firewall". It was designed to provide "many to one" Internet access for a LAN with one or more systems to connect to the Internet using a single IP address. · Port Blocking - blocks access to Internet ports and protocols that are either unused or unnecessary. Even better, higher quality firewall routers offer port stealthing, but more on that later. · Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) - A more advanced form of packet inspection. Knows which information to filter out. · Virtual Private Network (VPN) - If you connect to your computers at home while at another location, this is a must. VPN creates a tunnel between 2 computers so that no other computers can listen in. A Brief Explanation of SPI In order to use the Internet, you do have to open some ports and protocols on your firewall router to outbound packets. In return, you need to be able to receive return packets back from the Internet in order to say, get your email. That means that there is an open vulnerability to attack via those open ports and protocols that can be exploited IF a cracker is sophisticated enough to be able to break through your NAT protections, and there are some that certainly can do exactly that. Anti Virus (AV) software - This is critical. Virus and Trojan outbreaks are a daily occurrence, and statistics show that an unprotected system will become infected by a virus or Trojan in an average of 16 minutes . This time is called "Survival Time" and is tracked by SANS - Internet Storm Center . An excellent "white paper", published by SANS, on this subject is Windows XP: Surviving the First Day . This frightening statistic means that a totally unprotected system may not have enough time to download critical security-based Windows updates before becoming fatally infected.
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