Firewall

Very good straight forward DISCUSSION here.

You look at the more advanced end. And I try to keep it as average.

But I have had a so Called Profesional Tech tells thing like you meniton to a user that hardly knew the keyboard from the mouse and scare them from using a firewall at all.

Then Ol' Billybob here has to sit them down. Install something like Kerio and SHOW them HANDS ON that it is not as tough as they were told.

Also while doing the above I found at least two machines with NO Anti-Virus. When I asked why the answer was the same. All of the high tech stuff the Tech told them. I will not say garbbage because it is not. It is just stuff that the average Home user does not need.

Well I think we can all see what that Tech was up to. He wanted the machine to come back to him when things went wrong.

Well anyway. I have some new fun for myself. I shutdown Kerio and installed Sygate last night. And as of right now I can't even got to the other machines. But when I get a more important job done ( changing direction light bulbs in the car ) that can easily be remidied.

Very best regards to you also.

BillyBob

 

Good day to you BillyBob

First off,

ROFL ROFL ROFL ....BLINK! BKINK!

Yes I guess with the average user my fellings come from the fact that most AVERAGE users just want to pay for the dang thing get it home, get it out of the box, hook it up and get on line.

i.e. basic user settings, home page correction , cookies and what not.

Well it is just not that simple anymore , relitivly speaking.. due to the fact that the internet as you and I know is a really messed up place (hackers, viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, adware ect ect...

I my self have become very intimate with my puters so that I can adjust and repair and make settings so that it runs at it's optimal pace... or other wise it just turns into a thousand dollar piece of junk!!! and the experiance turns into a nightmare

All in all I believe that if guys like you and me and many others here that are experianced.. or somewhat experianced can and are willing to pass on our knowledge it will help the average user get more in touch with the computer and the internet and make his/her experiance in computing much more fun and educational.

Most techs are what I call "out of the box" techs.. these are the guys that come to your house cus your cable modem is messed up and they walk around and then proceed to tell you that it's ALWAYS something you did so they can charge you the FAT service fee!!!!

These are the guys that went to some no name night school for 6 weeks and really only know what the school taught them. Which was how to BS your way though a service call!!! Dont get me wrong there are many techs and service individuals out there
that are very compitaint and do there job well.

Fortunately, we have places such as windowsbbs.com as a fail safe for all those average users that dont have those types of service thecs in thier area

To sum it up Billy I think if average users took a bit more time with thier investment in thier puters they would not only learn more but enjoy the experiance more, this includes use the so desperatly
needed firewalls for todays internet surfing!!!

keeping it average like you are doing is very good to start with.. but getting into the advanced needs as I do is a nesscesity sooner or later if you are gonna actualy care for your investment.

I want to say thanks to you though Billy for actually getting me back to my beginnings as I have lost touch with the fact that I once had to start off as a beginner as we all do..

Just a reminder....

As we learn there is nothing more gradifying then passing on the knowledge and teaching.... for if we did not have the desire to learn and then teach what we know.. most would become dependant on others to do for them.

Billy keep on keeping on and good luck with the blinkers

Very best regards to you all,
FireDancer

 

FireDancer

First off. Fixing the blinker light was dam near as tough as setting up Sygate on this Computer. Had to take half of the darn trunk apart to get to ONE little $1.50 light bulb.

OOPSS !!!. Sygate just informed me that something is trying to get to the Internet. I just denied it for now and will look in the log to see what I wish to do with it.

I thought that I had all auto updates shut off but I guess I was wrong.

That is for sure. But basic settings are better than none at all. And at the same time we have to realize that each machine may or may not handle the same way. I got three and none will do things the same way. ( three different BASIC machines and OS )

And quite often that determines what can or can not be done. Actually that is a FACT that I can honestly vouch for.

Thanks for the great discussion.

I probabley will not be on here too much for the next day or two. We have a housefull of company for a Wedding tomorrow.

BillyBob

 

Hi BB,

"OOPSS !!!. Sygate just informed me that something is trying to get to the Internet "

If this is the XP system, that may be MS calling home - Generic Host Process for WIN32 Services. If it is, deny server rights to it in the application panel under the advanced tab. If you feel like it, you could even make a rule blocking the IP range for akaimi servers (I think thats how its spelled) which MS uses.

Remember our discussion about ICF and not trusting MS and the link I gave to an article about MS which painted an Orwellian picture of Bill & CO.

Regards - Charles

 

Education Continues. Thank you Charles.

Yes to XP. Sygate is new to me also. Quite different than Kerio. It looks to be more ( for lack of something better ) powerfull.

I was thinking the same thing and will check into it another day.

Right now I have too many kids around causing interruptions and I do not need same when messing with the Firewall as long as the basic part of it is doing its job.

there is that word BASIC again.

Incidently. Awhile back I DID block myself from the Internet completely.

But I found this peticular case to be Sygate itself.

However I do know that a lot more can be done. But I will leave those question for next week and in the proper forum when things get settled down.

I do not as yet understand what it ( Sygate ) means by a Remote Computer.

BillyBob

 

BB - I found the following on a Sygate promo page that seems to clear up their somewhat confusing use of Remote Computer

As I read this, a corporate user who sometimes connects to the company network from home would qualify for the remote computer designation and if a hacker can infect that computer from the internet or via email, when the user next logs on to the company network, he can leave it open to spreading the infection from his PC to the company network. His RAS or VPN connection would have bypassed all the company firewalling efforts.

 

Thanks again Newt.

I will do more checking etc. when I get to feeling better.

BillyBob