[jayeliot]

In another thread in General Security I told of my daughter's problem with a bot virus that she picked up at college. The solution by the techies there was to reformat her hard drive. I asked your opinion of their solution and I thank you for the help.

Now that they completed the job, her laptop is working fine. But I now have another question. I see that running in the background is an anti-virus software package, but no firewall. I submitted a question to them, and have pasted it below. I would like your opinion regarding their response :

My question to them :

"To: security@---.edu
Subject: Re: Fwd: FW: Re.: NOTIFICATION OF UP RESIDENCE HALL COMPROMISE - Update



"Thank you for rebuilding my daughter's laptop. Everything is working fine, but I do have a question. Now that she is home, I see that you installed anti-virus software. But I do not see any security software. If I am correct, shouldn't she have some sort of firewall when she is in a wi-fi environment to block intruders ?"


Their response :


Windows XP and Windows Vista come with an integral firewall in which the default configuration is enabled. A user of a Windows 2000 system must purchase firewall software separately.


What do you guys think ? Shouldn't she have more than this "integral" firewall ?

Thanks,

Jay




Thanks,



Edward J. Ko
Network Assessment Analyst
Security Operations and Services
Information Technology Services
The Pennsylvania State University
ITS-SOS Office: +1 814 863 9533
ITS-SOS E-Mail: security@psu.edu



From: Jay Mayer [mailto:jayeliot@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:12 PM

[MikeSwim07]

If she has windows Vista then it is not really needed. But If she has anything other than vista (xp, 2000 etc,) then yes she should get a firewall. There are many great free ones out there such as Comodo, Kerio, and Zonealarm.

[ShawnsITSolution]

Yes a Secondary firewall is very much needed, XP Built in Firewall does not block anything really at all and is very very easy to bypass without much knowledge.

[golferbob]

i agree with above ,get a good free firewall ,i use comodo 2.4 on my xp with no problems.

[mrss]

And the Vista firewall isn't any better than the XP firewall unless you can configure it to manage outbound traffic... and that is a very confusing and arcane task for most users. So look at third party.

I digress, while the Vista firewall doesn't stop outbound, Vista's administrative security nagging ("do you really want to run this program") if followed, will stop many trojans from installing. so Vista passes some leak tests that XP flunks.

[jayeliot]

Thanks for the input. Using your advice, I have been in contact with their Security Dept and although they don't see a need for a third party software, they have no objections either.... seee their response below. It really helps having your input as I attempt to resolve issues with her college Network Security.

I should have mentioned that the laptop is running XP.



Thanks,

Jay

Their Response :
"The situation experienced by your daughter would not have been corrected with any additional or other firewall. The attack vector was through a well-known exploit in an unpatched, out-of-date application (in this case a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader prior to version 8.1.2)."

"There is no objection to you running a different client-side firewall, like Comodo, Kerio or ZoneAlarm, however, installation of any these firewall software packages will disable the Windows XP (or Vista) firewall. Client-side firewall software is not “stackable” and will not work together, so you may not gain the additional protection you desire." (end of response)

[jayeliot]

I have one other question - something that she does that really bugs me. She leaves her computer on 24/7, screen saver is password protected, modem is on. I have been in the habit of turning off my modem at home when the computer is unattended. I was told years ago that leaving the modem on and connected to the Net opens up an opportunity to be infiltrated by outside hackers. Is there any validity to this notion ?

[Jazzgirl]

If you have Vista, the included firewall is quite decent. To get better control of outbound connections with Vista Firewall you can use Vista Firewall Control which is a free utility.

As to leaving the computer on 24/7, as long as she has all the security controls in place she should be okay. I run two desktops and a laptop. When I'm at work they are back home and running. I have never had anything unusual happen at all.

Jazzgirl

[Mr.Geek]

I agree with Jazzgirl, just make sure that she is properly secured, and it will be alright to let it run 24/7.

[ShawnsITSolution]

They won't stack they are correct but, who cares if the windows on is disabled it is junk compared to the third party firewalls. And as to leaving her computer on, it is not going to pose any other risk as if it were on anyways, so no there will be no more risk than normal as long as her firewalls are running correctly and configured to block automatically.