Cable connections can be busy indeed. I installed Zonealarm for a friend's
PC. Before I had completed the install of it, it reported two different
"visitors" checking out his box.
You can get a simple but yet pretty good firewall that only needs a floppy
drive and two NICs at freesco.org. Then, pickup a couple of books on the
subject that are written in a way that you understand. Study them and listen
to this list and you'll soon get up to speed.
Discuss firewalls in general to understand at least in principle what's
available. I have a book where one guy says that "purists" prefer either
packet filters or proxy, never both. This is a dumb thing to say as having
both provides a better "wall". Always leave a door open that says that an
"Authority" can be wrong.
Don't think of a one stop solution. Safeguarding your network/data is never
that simple. It includes an overall view of security. Like not allowing a
dialup Win98 machine sit inside your firewall, as it would be bypassing your
firewall all together. Having passwords that are hard to break by "brute
force" attack.
Many attacks originates from within. Employees have upsets with management,
nothing better to do, etc. and accidentally find the password to accounting,
nicely placed on a yellow postit on the monitor...
People often ask me "What do I have that would make them interested in
hacking me?". Even if you don't keep credit card type of information, data
valuable to your competitor(s) or have a high profile web site - you can
still be usefull as an alias to break into and then attack others from.
Most attacks are done through others computers, by hiding behind your
identity. Some install programs that are used for Denial of Service attacks.
I.e. Get something up to protect you, then there's no substitute to learning
the industry, or pay someone to look after you on a ongoing basis.
Contact FBI (equivelent of) or police, to learn what is needed to bring the
authorities in once you've got someone breaking in. You may need to collect
some specific information before they will do anything.
My eh, three cents.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "William Bartholomew" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 12:09 AM
> Subject: Attack Quantity/Regularity
>
> > Just a couple of general questions:
> >
> > a) How often can a SMALL company expect to be attacked (ie
> > DENIED packets etc?
> >
> > b) If attacks are regular, and often from the same people, what
> > action should you take? What if it is a variety of people, apart from
> > your firewall how else can you protect yourself?
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > William Bartholomew MCP MCSE CNA CCNA
> > Assistant Network Administrator
> > Brisbane Boys' College
> >
> > Phone: +61 (07) 3309-3622
> > Fax: +61 (07) 3309-3618
> >
> > "Divide by cucumber error. Please re-install universe and reboot."
> > -
> > [To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
> > "unsubscribe firewalls" in the body of the message.]
--
Steve Szmidt
VP Information
Video Group Distributors, Inc.
1806 S. Highland Ave
Clearwater, FL 33756
800-866-7024
727-585-9908 fax
-
[To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
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