I need some advice about how to protect myself from Crackers. Hackers build things, Crackers break them, if anyone on this board is a true Hacker, PM me...I need some info.

Thanks guys.

Andrew

 

1) Unplug from the internet

 

Yes, this is true...

1) Unplug from the internet


But then you must check your email afterwards....

 

Get Zone Alarm, its a free download and gives good protection.
I know many people who use it.

 

I don't think I explained myself propperly...lol. First off, I'm a letch with a 56K...no cable...no DSL...no nuthin'. Second of all, what brought this on was that I was in a chat with some friends of mine the other day and this A** comes in harassing everyone. Of course, we all made strong comments towards him. He PM'd one of my friends and said that he could have his home address in minutes . I'm wondering if this is possible, even from and administrator? Can someone track you down? I know it's possible to get ISP addresses from e-mail, but that's the extent of my knowledge...I don't even know how to do it. If these things are possible I'd like to know, and if they are, I need to figure out how to do them myself for protection.

On a side note, I've read about Zonealarm2, but since I have a 56K modem and a dynamic IP...do I need such? I also have Windows ME...will it freak my computer out?

Andrew

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by S2Kguy
[B]

On a side note, I've read about Zonealarm2, but since I have a 56K modem and a dynamic IP...do I need such?

 

Got to McAfee and purchase the Firewall and Online (Active Virus Scan). It is highly configurable and is upgraded daily. The Personnel Firewall is one of the best that I've found. It makes your system virtually invisible to hackers. Think blackhole! That's what it does. As long as a wood be hacker is tied up trying to connect to your system he cannot engage anyone else without breaking the connection. It will cost you around $36.00 total for both but it is worth every penny. This is for a one year subscription. I use them and my system is just not there to anyone on the outside. Combine this with the ISP security software and you are untracable. I've had it tested several times and security specialists are unable to locate the system. Even with the IP address it's a ghost!

 

Cool, thanks for the info... I have a Mcafee thing on my computer now, I think it's just a virus scan tho', actually...it bugs the s**t out of me with that window that pops up all the time wanting the system to be updated. When I click "OK" it goes through the normal routine and just says it's already updated. Oh well. Guess I need a real Firewall. I thought a Firewall was a "thing" that didn't need to be updated? I'll check on it. Thanks again.

Andrew

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by S2Kguy
[B]Cool, thanks for the info...

 

There are "hardware" firewalls and software firewalls. "Hardware" firewalls actually are purpose built boxes with special software on it. Mostly these are used in large businesses due to their complexity and cost. Since they have software, they too need to be updated and managed. There are also consumer based "NAT'ing" firewalls (Linksys, D-Link, etc.), but these aren't truly firewalls.

Software only firewalls are usually targeted at small businesses and consumers though most people I work with also run a software firewall at work to keep annoying co-workers from "hacking" our machines. Popular software firewalls are Zonealarm (free and very popular), BlackIce, Norton Firewall, and my favorite, Tiny Firewall.

I had read some poor reviews of the Norton product previously. It was about a year ago and they may have fixed their problems by now but it was pretty much useless when I last looked at it. I've heard very good reviews about Zonalarm and the price is right. Like I mentioned, Tiny Software makes a very cool firewall with a great configuration section, but you need to be a geek to use it properly.

Dave