No, I would not consider your father's box to be safe. There are enough drive-by-download attacks and e-mail scams to make infection a very real possibility even if the automated worm route is blocked by a NAT router. However, if you installed SP2 with default settings, it probably enabled the auto-update functionality in Windows. Similarly, recent versions of Firefox have a similar auto-update feature. So, even if you don't think the box is being updated, it might still be receiving security patches.
--Rohit Patnaik Steven Anders wrote: > I received great responses and am very grateful to the help from > community of this list. Thank you. > > > I have a dumb question: Is a Windows box behind a router safe ? > > It is my father's PC and the Windows OS was not updated regularly. The > Windows box was connected through wire (RJ45) to the router. The > router is then connected to the DSL modem. > The Windows Box has SP2 installed and the default Windows firewall > enabled - and I think was last updated from Windows Update on in 2008. > It has AVG anti virus. > The PC was never moved anywhere and is always behind the router. The > router has default settings, which I believe has no ports open. > > He never installed any applications or downloads anything off the net > - mainly it is used for emails and general web browsing (using > Firefox, not IE). I informed him to use Firefox, since IE has so many > security issues. > > > My questions are: > > 1. There are many exploits and vulnerabilities of Windows, but I was > wondering if outdated Windows box behind router generally safe ? > Since, the Windows box was not updated with the latest updates. > > I have always thought that having a computer behind the router (since > router has firewall) is generally safe, but I would love to hear > insights or thoughts. > > > 2. If a Windows box is behind a router, could a botnet be installed to > it ? Assuming, the end user does not install/download any applications > from the Internet and always use Firefox. > > > Thank you all in advance. > steve > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. > Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html > Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/ _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/
