Not being really IP/network literate, one rule of thumb for allowing stuff on my machine to access, or be accessed from the net was: "If I'm not sure what it's for; disallow it". If immediately after disallowing something, some thing doesn't work, investigate further.
That simplistic approach got my behind into trouble when my cable connection conked out at odd intervals due to DHCP IP lease renewal not working because I had permanently disallowed an "application" only labeled as "SYSTEM" by my FW (Tiny v2) access to/from the net.
Other components that appear to be part of my W98 OS that occasionally want access to/from the net are:
I show you a way. Close all ports especially rcp ports. And then if you couldn't connect in internet unblock one file at time. When you find the right block the other. Ok?
You you mean RPC here? Say: DCE-RPC, which is used with Windows?
This is not a good idea.
If you have a clue of what you're doing, first make a concept. Then implement this concept.
If you're a home user, and you're not knowing what to do, you need somebody who knows, or you need easy plug'n'play solutions, which help.
Such solutions can be:
- use the Windows-Firewall (you have to do nothing if you have Windows XP SP2); if you have Windows 2000, just use
formatting link
if you have Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME, just unbind any services from your external interface
- DO NOT USE Internet Explorer (you have to download another browser first)
- DO NOT USE Outlook or Outlook Express (you have to download a MUA)
- keep your system up to date (you have to ensure, that Windows-Update is switched to "automatic")
- keep your Browser and your MUA up to date (unfortunately, you have to poll the homepages of your browser and your MUA at least once a week, until you're using a browser and a MUA with automatic updates)
- keep your Adobe reader up to date (switch on automatic updates)
- don't trust in what you're receiving by E-Mail, because Internet Mail is a service without any trust enforcing possibilities (I'm not talking about OpenPGP or S/MIME here)
- don't trust in any software program or screensaver, you can download from the Internet, with the exception of those, you are trusting in the manufacturer AND in the source you're downloading from, OR you can trust, because it's Free Software or Open Source AND you can trust the source you're downloading from
- if you want to, additionally you could use a virus scanner - IF YOU KNOW, that A VIRUS SCANNER CANNOT PREVENT FROM EVERY VIRUS, but can help to filter away many, many of the viruses, which are there in the wild, but not every one
Using this concept, it is very unlikely, that you will get infected by malware or will become a victim of an attacker. It's not impossible, though, but it's very unlikely.
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