Couple of Q's regarding Firewalls/Spyware

mangablade · 12-29-2005, 06:10 PM

1) What EXACTLY does spyware do?

2) Why are firewalls needed?

im asking this becuz spyware dosnt seem to give me virus, and i dont think theres anything noticable that it does to my computer. and also becuz my microsoft firewall is turned off (im PRETTY sure thats the only one i have, is there any way to check if you have other firewalls?) and i barely get viruses. If i DO get viruses, its like once every 2-3 months, and its becuz i manually d/led a file containing a virus which i thought was something else, and they were small viruses soon taken care of by my anti-virus. i scan every 2 weeks or so and i scanned yesterday and found nothing. ive had the firewall off for well over a year i think.

basically wat im saying is i hear everyone get all nervous and stuff about not having firewalls on, but quite frankly, i dont see wats the big deal. i dont have any problems really without one. unless of course theres one running without me knowing.

PlaceCard · 12-29-2005, 06:28 PM

1) Spyware does just that - it spies on you. Watches what you do and where you go. Then it reports this info back to the maker to tell them how best to advertise to you.

2) Firewalls keep people out of your computer in case they try to steal information from you or edit your computer just to be mean.

You don't NEED a firewall. But then you don't NEED locks on your doors either.

mangablade · 12-29-2005, 06:49 PM

well taking that into consideration, i still think im fine with what i have. i havnt ever been the target of a hacker, and dont soon plan to be lol, but seroiusly, having a firewall is just too much of a hassle with such a small reward.

But my question still remains on how to check if i have firewalls on besides the MS default one.

PlaceCard · 12-29-2005, 07:09 PM

Windows XP has a built in firewall which is horrible and can be disabled through the Network connections by clicking the connection and changing the settings.

Firewalls are software you install. Such as Norton or Mcafee. If you don't have anything like that (other than the virus protectors which are seperate) then you don't have a firewall.

If you use a Router which connects to multiple computers it ACTS like a firewall by hiding your IP address and making any hack attempt target the router not the computer on the router block.

mlegg · 01-02-2006, 01:14 AM

The Windows SP2 firewall is a sufficient host centric firewall for most users.
A hardware firewall, a router with SPI, is the 1st step of defense.

Spyware also has other counterparts known as malware, scumware, adware

So you can get trojans and other disabling items from these. Best to keep protected and have several programs to help clean it and prevent it.

Really one spyware program is not enough unfortunately. One program will detect what another may miss, as they all use different detections flags/cleaning engines.

On all machines I own, and set up in networks I maintain I have to check and cleanup:

AdAware SE

Spybot Search & Destroy

Ewido Security Suite

Panda Active Scan ~ this is a website to bookmark and use also

These are prevention programs that install several thousand sites into the restriced zones to prevent things from being able to be executed:

Spyware Blaster

IE SPYAD (original)

newhouse1390 · 01-17-2006, 01:47 PM

I have a D-link Wireless Router and it comes with a firewall on it. How do I configure the hardware firewall. I think I am set with client software. My work allows government employees to take home symantec client security. But I would like to put up a hardware firewall any ideas?

12-29-2005, 06:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
mangablade Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2 OS: WinXP	Couple of Q's regarding Firewalls/Spyware 1) What EXACTLY does spyware do? 2) Why are firewalls needed? im asking this becuz spyware dosnt seem to give me virus, and i dont think theres anything noticable that it does to my computer. and also becuz my microsoft firewall is turned off (im PRETTY sure thats the only one i have, is there any way to check if you have other firewalls?) and i barely get viruses. If i DO get viruses, its like once every 2-3 months, and its becuz i manually d/led a file containing a virus which i thought was something else, and they were small viruses soon taken care of by my anti-virus. i scan every 2 weeks or so and i scanned yesterday and found nothing. ive had the firewall off for well over a year i think. basically wat im saying is i hear everyone get all nervous and stuff about not having firewalls on, but quite frankly, i dont see wats the big deal. i dont have any problems really without one. unless of course theres one running without me knowing.

12-29-2005, 06:28 PM	#2 (permalink)
PlaceCard Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA, Washington Posts: 41 OS: Dual Boot Win98/XP	1) Spyware does just that - it spies on you. Watches what you do and where you go. Then it reports this info back to the maker to tell them how best to advertise to you. 2) Firewalls keep people out of your computer in case they try to steal information from you or edit your computer just to be mean. You don't NEED a firewall. But then you don't NEED locks on your doors either. __________________ Just give me five minutes... and a hammer.

12-29-2005, 07:09 PM	#4 (permalink)
PlaceCard Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA, Washington Posts: 41 OS: Dual Boot Win98/XP	Windows XP has a built in firewall which is horrible and can be disabled through the Network connections by clicking the connection and changing the settings. Firewalls are software you install. Such as Norton or Mcafee. If you don't have anything like that (other than the virus protectors which are seperate) then you don't have a firewall. If you use a Router which connects to multiple computers it ACTS like a firewall by hiding your IP address and making any hack attempt target the router not the computer on the router block. __________________ Just give me five minutes... and a hammer.

01-02-2006, 01:14 AM	#5 (permalink)
mlegg Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: seacoast NH Posts: 43 OS: XP Pro & Home, Win2kPro, Win98	The Windows SP2 firewall is a sufficient host centric firewall for most users. A hardware firewall, a router with SPI, is the 1st step of defense. Spyware also has other counterparts known as malware, scumware, adware So you can get trojans and other disabling items from these. Best to keep protected and have several programs to help clean it and prevent it. Really one spyware program is not enough unfortunately. One program will detect what another may miss, as they all use different detections flags/cleaning engines. On all machines I own, and set up in networks I maintain I have to check and cleanup: AdAware SE Spybot Search & Destroy Ewido Security Suite Panda Active Scan ~ this is a website to bookmark and use also These are prevention programs that install several thousand sites into the restriced zones to prevent things from being able to be executed: Spyware Blaster IE SPYAD (original) Last edited by mlegg; 01-02-2006 at 01:16 AM.

12-29-2005, 06:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
mangablade Registered User Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2 OS: WinXP	well taking that into consideration, i still think im fine with what i have. i havnt ever been the target of a hacker, and dont soon plan to be lol, but seroiusly, having a firewall is just too much of a hassle with such a small reward. But my question still remains on how to check if i have firewalls on besides the MS default one.

01-17-2006, 01:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
newhouse1390 Member, Networking Team Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,040 OS: Windows Server 2003	I have a D-link Wireless Router and it comes with a firewall on it. How do I configure the hardware firewall. I think I am set with client software. My work allows government employees to take home symantec client security. But I would like to put up a hardware firewall any ideas?