Do I need a Firewall (and what is it?) (2 Viewers)

[Duke Leto]

Operating system is irrelevant, if you connect via a router the responses from shields up are from the router, the ip address on the screen will confirm that.

 

[ehrodz]

My PC is behind a hardware/router firewall and the software firewall provided by the Microsost Essentials security bundle. A security scan has found that there are no open ports in the system of the PC. Is it possible for trojans or other malware that have invaded my system to steal personal/financial information from my computer?

 

[Andrew Rowlands]

My PC is behind a hardware/router firewall and the software firewall provided by the Microsost Essentials security bundle. A security scan has found that there are no open ports in the system of the PC. Is it possible for trojans or other malware that have invaded my system to steal personal/financial information from my computer?

If your PC becomes affected by a very new malware, it's possible that it could compromise your system and data. MSE's heuristics are essentially 'cloud-based'; when MSE suspects a new file, it uploads the 'signature' of that file, and/or the file itself, to it's online database for checking. It may therefore, take some minutes for any action to be taken and the malware may well be active during this time.

I'm not aware that MSE contains any software firewall, it's an antivirus/antispyware program.

 

[ehrodz]

If your PC becomes affected by a very new malware, it's possible that it could compromise your system and data. MSE's heuristics are essentially 'cloud-based'; when MSE suspects a new file, it uploads the 'signature' of that file, and/or the file itself, to it's online database for checking. It may therefore, take some minutes for any action to be taken and the malware may well be active during this time.

I'm not aware that MSE contains any software firewall, it's an antivirus/antispyware program.

Andrew,
I understand that 'drop by' malware(picked up as you surf the internet) can infect a computer with firewalls and cause some serious problems whether or not detected by anti-malware software. But since firewalls theoretically prevent entry and in some cases exit of information in protected PCs I was wondering whether personal/financial information could be stolen from firewall protected PCs infected with drop by malware whether detected or not.

You are right, MSE itself does not contain a firewall. The firewall I was referring to is technically part of Windows.

 

[Andrew Rowlands]

Andrew,
I understand that 'drop by' malware(picked up as you surf the internet) can infect a computer with firewalls and cause some serious problems whether or not detected by anti-malware software. But since firewalls theoretically prevent entry and in some cases exit of information in protected PCs I was wondering whether personal/financial information could be stolen from firewall protected PCs infected with drop by malware whether detected or not.

You are right, MSE itself does not contain a firewall. The firewall I was referring to is technically part of Windows.

If a data transaction is initiated by your web browsing, that alone is usually enough for it to be 'cleared' by the firewall; whether any personal or financial information is passed out depends more upon the type of exploit involved and how 'well written' the malware is. Unless you are browsing from within a VM or 'sandboxed' environment, all bets are off.

Don't use a Windows PC for any financial dealings unless you have a fully patched and secured machine that is not a multi-user, general purpose computer. You would be much safer using a 'live' Linux disc like Ubuntu.

 

[John Morgan]

Don't use a Windows PC for any financial dealings unless you have a fully patched and secured machine that is not a multi-user, general purpose computer. You would be much safer using a 'live' Linux disc like Ubuntu.

Good advice. I do it even though I haven't got a bootable Windows on my hard disc. The most time efficient way is to put the live disc in when switching on. That way it is not necessary to waste time on a restart, so perhaps geting tempted to just quickly log on to the bank using Windows instead ||

I would also add that the live versions of distros like Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, Suse, even Knoppix are all quite big and take quite a few minutes to load. Damn Small Linux on a "Live disc" is considerably lighter. That will shorten considerably the time you are forced to spend away from the awful 'Windows', which for some incomprehensible reason everyone unthinkingly uses :eek!: