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Help - How Do I Protect From Intrusions?

I am not sure where to post this, but I will start in this group. I apologize if I am out of place,

I am connected to cable ISP via a D-Link DI-704P router which is suppose to have a built-in firewall. The router does generate an IP address for me of course.

I have discovered that I can PING myself, which scares me. It suggests to me that I am NOT protected from the outside world after all.

I went to this site to test my security:

formatting link

and got this result: We scanned the ports you requested, looking for any services or viruses that might be running on them, and did not find anything. This usually indicates that your firewall software or security software is functioning properly. If we had found open ports, we would have reported them to you so that you could adjust your firewall accordingly.

You may have a properly configured firewall, but if your browser's security is improperly configured, your firewall may be useless!

Notice!, your natted (or real) IP address is 111.222.0.333 (I substituted this for my IP address). This information can be used to track your activities. I should not be able to obtain this information if your security is properly configured!

Can anyone suggest my next step? I need help to know what to do.

Thank you

Reply to
hooray
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I've not seen this website you're referring to but it's intentionally misleading, probably spreading FUD to sell a product. It is true that an IP address can be used to track your activities but that doesn't mean someone will be monitoring everything you do. It means easynews will be able to cancel your acct if you start spamming newsgroups, or your ISP can ask you to knock off any activities that violate their acceptable use policies.

A D-Link firewall is sufficient for home Internet use. Since you're using Forte newsreader, you're probably not using vulnerable Microsoft applications like Outlook, Outlook Express, or Internet Explorer. You might try one of the several free or commercial personal firewall apps if you're still concerned.

-Gary

Reply to
Gary

Howdy,

I experimented with that site, and downloaded and installed nothing. Of course, I have no way to know what it is actually testing, but your comments above were not true in my experience...

All the best,

Reply to
Kenneth

This site requires you to download and install an application on your computer in order to run the test(s). Of course they can tell you what your Nat'd IP address is, they are inside the firewall performing their tests.

Reply to
Ken

Yeah, it lets you enter port ranges but then shows you only a summary of the results, no details. I'd recommend using grc.com's ShieldsUP instead.

-Gary

Reply to
Gary

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I always go here to Steve Gibson's site to check the configuration of my firewall/router.

Reply to
Anonymous

snipped-for-privacy@for.me wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Yes you can ping the public IP that was issued by the ISP for your account that sits on the public side of the NAT router. No machine on the private side of the router can be pinged from the public Internet so the machines behind the router are not going to respond to the ping.

So what it is BS? If you're using IE, then switch to FireFox (free). And besides, the browser can be queried for the information. The IP must be known for any traffic to reach your modemn and the router behind the modem.

You can ignore it because not a damn thing is going to happen to you, because you got that router sitting there. Or you can run out and buy and install a bunch of worthless crap trying to protect an IP.

Duane :)

Reply to
Duane Arnold

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