Test your Firewall

[jbs3645]

I hope this is the right place to put this. I noticed there was a link to test your AV (which I of course immediately used) and thought I would put this in. Has anyone ever heard of Steve Gibson and Gibson Research Corp.? I heard about it on The Screen Savers, Tech TV. He has some very good test there for you to check your on-line protection such as firewalls, port scanning, trojans, etc. The link I am posting is to a long page but I would suggest looking down it. Lots of info and the test are near the bottom. Hope some of you find this useful.

http://grc.com/default.htm

John

[Jane]

Thanks John :)
I go to this site about 1-2 times a month . Just to be sure that my ports are all stealthed .

[LeRoi]

Here are some more testing sites:

http://www.pcflank.com/

http://scan.sygate.com/prestealthscan.html

https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[killian_sh]

I have a question maybe you guys can help me with.
I use a Microsoft Base Station as a router because I have Xbox Live.It has a firewall in it that uses NAT(network address translation).
I've been told by a lot of people that a hardware firewall isn't enough,so I downloaded ZoneAlarm.When I do the online stealth tests,they always come up negative because of the NAT.

I've tried pluging the computer straight to the modem,as the site suggests,but when I try to access the site my connection times out.
I don't really want to play around with the configuration of the router.

Do you think it's safe to assume ZA is doing it's job?

It prompts me everytime a program tries to access the internet.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my question.

[jbs3645]

LeRoi, Thanks, I added pcflank. Looks good. have to go back and run test.

Killian_sh, Sorry I can't be of much help. It is good that you are prompted when a program tries to access the internet but you should also be alerted when someone tries to access you. Be carefull assuming, I got burned doing that one time when I thought I was safe. Had to reformat and reinstall everything.

John

[Jane]

I always keep the inbound ZA alert off ! It would drive you nuts :eek: if kept on . ZA is doing excellent job (had it for years ) just don't upgrade or download the latest version 5 , till they come up with a fix. But ZA 4.5 is very good . :)

[GolfProRM]

If you've got a router, and the tests show that it works, you have nothing to worry about. The main point of the software firewall (in this case) is the outbound protection. If you get a virus/trojan and something weird is trying to access the net, you'll know it.

You don't NEED to have a software firewall if you've got the router, but it never hurts to have it on. :)

[killian_sh]

Thanks a bunch for all your replies.I have the new version of ZA,but no problems with my AV that I've noticed.I run AVG.I think I may uninstall anyway.I hear ZA is a resorce hog.

Thanks guys.http://www.mypcclinic.com/forums/images/smilies/smile1.gif

[killian_sh]

If you've got a router, and the tests show that it works, you have nothing to worry about. The main point of the software firewall (in this case) is the outbound protection. If you get a virus/trojan and something weird is trying to access the net, you'll know it.

You don't NEED to have a software firewall if you've got the router, but it never hurts to have it on. :)
That's the frustrating part of it GolfProRM.
Every online test I try to take,the NAT gives the web site a false IP address.The tests warn that if you're hiding behind NAT,the tests results will not be correct.

[GolfProRM]

If you're hiding behind NAT, you should be fine...

Take a look at the ZA logs and see if you're getting any incoming traffic... If not, then you don't need it. If you're getting traffic blocked (external traffic) then your NAT isn't setup properly.

[killian_sh]

Thanks GolfProRM

[ZEUS_GB]

Great site!

Helped me diagnose a spam relaying problem on our exchange server!

[johng]

I have used Zonealarm but now use Kerio. Firewalls certainly advise you when something wants to contact the outside world but in my opinion not much good at preventing things coming in and being insatlled on your pc.
I found I had an exe file installed in my windows directory and I picked it up when it tried to access the internet.
John