Do I have enough or a (or the right) firewall?

We have a 2-node p2p network, all win2k. We have a DSL connection to the internet. All of the hardware including the network was installed by a leasing company. The company has been very good about support and we have had no real problems with malware.

Here's the software and hardware that we have, as far as I know. I would appreciate any comments as to whether we need an additional software firewall and, if so, which one would work best with what we already have.

HP ProCurve Switch. I think the model number is either 2424M or HPJ4093A. Both numbers are on the faceplate.

LinkSys Etherfast 4-port Cable/DSL Router. I think the model number is BEFSR41.

SpeedStream 5260 Ethernet ADSL Modem from Efficient Networks.

Norton Antivirus, Corporate Edition.

We are running Office 2000 and using Outlook for email and IE for web browsing.

Thanks

-- Email: Usenet-20031220 at spamex.com (11/09/04)

Reply to
Top Spin
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Top Spin wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

If you don't have any problems with malware, then don't worry about it. Although you could install Spybot or Ad-Aware and use Win 2k's Job Scheduler to run Ad-Aware on a routine basis to clean malware/spyware.

You can install WallWatcher (free use Google) for the BEF model Linksys router so you can review inbound and outbound connections. You'll need to enable logging on the Linksys router. If malware was running on a machine, then you would be to see the connections to the remote IP and to what IP/machine the connection was being made to on the LAN.

You may want to look at Firefox (free) for your browser which is less open to attack than IE, but if you're not having problems with malware reaching the machines due to IE, then that's fine too.

What you need to do if this is a business is get a router with a real FW and you won't need a PFW solution on each machine. The BEFSR41 is not a FW appliance and is just a NAT router with some FW like features that meets the specs in the link.

Linksys, D-link, Belkin, Netgear and others fall into this category.

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If the router had a true FW, then it would meet the specs in the link, like a low-end Watchguard, Sonicwall, Cisco and others.

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If you stick with the SR41, then you can use IPsec that's on the Win2k O/S to supplement the SR41 in protecting the machines on the LAN, by implementing the AnalogX IPsec rules on the machines. That's a possibility instead of installing a PFW on the machines, which you'll have to configure the PFW on each machine to share resources. The AnalogX rules already take care of that.

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Of course, you can avoid the above by just getting a appliance that has a true FW.

Duane :)

Reply to
Duane Arnold

I agree with everything that Duane said EXCEPT the sentence above - a True Firewall is not going to protect your browsing and external email any better than the router will unless you also lock-down your computer and practice save methods.

Reply to
Leythos

Leythos wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.lan:

The sentence above was in regards to the paragraph about it needing a PFW on the machines or IPsec for supplement to a NAT router and wouldn't be needed if an appliance was there that had a FW.

Duane :)

Reply to
Duane Arnold

Hello Top Spin,

Your system is nowhere near good enough. Two thou short of a deal. All that cheap stuff will ruin the IT security market if it continues. Don't you know how extremely dangerous it is to use a computer these days? Believe me if you don't buy something expensive and complicated right this minute your kids will fail at school, your roof will leak and your wife will leave you.

Yours in anticipation,

Your IT Godfather

Reply to
Anon

Two quotes from Usenet that I savor over the years:

-------------------- It just so happens that the most frequently used vector to date is that of user stupidity (why is it that we laugh at the cartoon animal who falls for the "stand here and press this button" gag, but so many of us seem content to "click here and be amazed"?)

--------------------- Social Engineering - Because there's no patch for human stupidity.

---------------------

The article in this newsgroup today titled 'FBI Alert - Computer Virus' is a classic example of this. Like any law enforcement agency conducts investigations via email. Yeah, right.

Old guy

Reply to
Moe Trin

It's hard to engineer security around ignorant users, and it gets harder every day.

Reply to
Leythos

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