Zonealarm & 'Server Access'

I agree wholeheartedly. In particular, Windows XP includes SvcHosts.exe and it asks for server rights automatically. Other programs use SvcHosts.exe to access the internet so not granting server rights is important.

A "server" listens, waiting for something/someone to contact it. You give a program server rights/access and you open a hole up in your firewall to allow something/someone to contact it. The port it listens on is no longer closed/stealthed, it is wide open. Unless you have a specific reason for allowing others to access your computer (I'm not talking about them sitting at your keyboard) then you don't need to allow server rights/access for anything.

It can, and eventually will. Deny server rights/access for everything, unless a program specifically needs it and you are aware why it does.

hi ron,

i think there is a difference in the access status. a service on your machine is avalible from the outside if you give the programm a server access. if you don't give it an access it couldn't.

yours richard

"Ron O'Brien" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:AsqOc.81$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...

No offence, but this is a prime example of why software firewalls will never be truly effective.

Mike squirted these wordjisms deep inside the bumtube of the newstwat in news:cee2vj$6uo$ snipped-for-privacy@thorium.cix.co.uk:

I think your point is that they would never be effective in the wrong hands.

In the right hands, however - and by that I mean someone who respects the power of their machine to sufficiently protect it - a software firewall is adequate to deal with most threats.

define "effective" plze. define "truly" plze.

fr gr Erik