That's actually fairly old news, and it's not hype... I read the article about the same phenomenon on Slashdot, and some users there said that they've seen unfirewalled systems get "owned" before they're even done booting. That part, at least, is not hype.
The part that is hype is that it's not exactly a case of the sky falling down, either, because preventing that from happening is pretty simple. Even a very basic firewall (such as the ones included with Windows XP and OS X) will prevent most forms of intrusion. The problem is, roughly two-thirds of home users don't use firewalls.
Well, it's new to me, and (considering the number of people who don't use firewalls) probably to most people I know. But I learned my lesson! I am using a firewall! I'm so smart!
And since it's been up, less than an hour, it's blocked "six intrusions, one of which was high-rated". I'm not sure what this means, exactly, but it does not sound good. My poor laptop, she was all unprotected before this. *huggles*
Your laptop has been unfirewalled -- have you been using NAT, or have you been connecting directly to the Internet? If the latter, I strongly recommend that you scan your system for infections. If you've been doing that for any length of time, your laptop almost certainly has some nasties on it that don't belong there -- particularly if you're running any version of Windows other than XP with SP2 installed.
OK, in that case, if you're scanning your system regularly for malware, you're probably fine.
I'm not sure how much you know about Internet Protocol (IP), but briefly: NAT (Network Address Translation) is a technology that allows more than one computer to share a single IP address (e.g., if you have a family of five, all with their own computers, you can use NAT to share your cable Internet connection with all of them).
Although it wasn't NAT's primary purpose, one of the fringe benefits is that it makes your computer quite a bit more difficult for hackers to break into. That's why I was asking. :-)
Your own scanning volume is quite low, by the way. Occasionally I check the logs in my firewall, and on average, I probably get a few dozen intrusion attempts per minute. Fortunately, my own security measures are pretty tight... I'm using a fully-stealthed firewall, NAT, and the latest version of OS X, fully patched. Anyone who wants to compromise my notebook would be better off trying to steal it than to hack into it.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-01-06 09:06 pm (UTC)The part that is hype is that it's not exactly a case of the sky falling down, either, because preventing that from happening is pretty simple. Even a very basic firewall (such as the ones included with Windows XP and OS X) will prevent most forms of intrusion. The problem is, roughly two-thirds of home users don't use firewalls.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 09:09 pm (UTC)And since it's been up, less than an hour, it's blocked "six intrusions, one of which was high-rated". I'm not sure what this means, exactly, but it does not sound good. My poor laptop, she was all unprotected before this. *huggles*
no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 09:38 pm (UTC)I'm not sure how much you know about Internet Protocol (IP), but briefly: NAT (Network Address Translation) is a technology that allows more than one computer to share a single IP address (e.g., if you have a family of five, all with their own computers, you can use NAT to share your cable Internet connection with all of them).
Although it wasn't NAT's primary purpose, one of the fringe benefits is that it makes your computer quite a bit more difficult for hackers to break into. That's why I was asking. :-)
Your own scanning volume is quite low, by the way. Occasionally I check the logs in my firewall, and on average, I probably get a few dozen intrusion attempts per minute. Fortunately, my own security measures are pretty tight... I'm using a fully-stealthed firewall, NAT, and the latest version of OS X, fully patched. Anyone who wants to compromise my notebook would be better off trying to steal it than to hack into it.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 09:40 pm (UTC)Your own scanning volume is quite low, by the way.
That probably explains why I haven't had any problems. I didn't even run virus scans until relatively recently, I thought they were a bother.