Author Topic: Are we safe? (Read 610 times)

WhiteHawk · « **on:** August 25, 2003, 07:32:42 AM »

If we disconnect our firewall and antivirus while playuing AH, are we safe from hackers and worms and virus's???

Skuzzy · « **Reply #1 on:** August 25, 2003, 07:34:31 AM »

If you have all the MS updates for the operating system, and are not running many of the background services MS has on by default in XP/2K, then yes.

Isatheprophet · « **Reply #2 on:** August 30, 2003, 05:19:53 PM »

erm wrong u are not safe if u don ot have antivirus and a firewall on. The whole idea is to protect your system at all time. Not just switch them off when u are playing a game. Whats to stop someone hacking into ur system while u are playing a game? None if u disable ur firewall etc. The MS patches do not mean jot, and the firewall xp has is a joke. keep ur firewall and antivirus on just to be on the safe side.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #3 on:** August 30, 2003, 06:28:33 PM »

Look,..as long as a port is not open, you cannot be hacked. It is a physical impossibility.

That said, you if you run your firewall and only block ports 13x and 44x, then that close all known ports that you cannot shutdown.

You cannot get a virus without a file being planted on your computer. When you shut down ports 13x (NetBIOS ports) you have cut off the means to get a file into your computer from the Internet, unless you are downloading it yourself.

Shut that anti-virus program down when you play games. It is doing nothing but taking a large amount of cycles away from the game, and will false trigger on you from time to time, which will cause a CTD.

Isa,...please stop spreading this type of misinformation. It is not helpful.

SKurj · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2003, 10:33:04 AM »

+) always found it amusing that some seem to think you can get a virus while playing a game online such as AH...

SKurj

Xjazz · « **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2003, 12:27:17 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Shut that anti-virus program down when you play games. It is doing nothing but taking a large amount of cycles away from the game, and will false trigger on you from time to time, which will cause a CTD.

Maybe hardware firewall is the ultimate solution for this.

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #6 on:** August 31, 2003, 02:21:40 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Xjazz
Maybe hardware firewall is the ultimate solution for this.

I certainly feel safer behind a router/NAT firewall and it doesn't use any resources. I also run Sygate Personal Firewall (free) as it uses few resources and I have no problems running it with AH, but I do turn off Norton AV when playing games on Skuzzy's advise.
DJ - AIR MAFIA

Roscoroo · « **Reply #7 on:** August 31, 2003, 11:47:15 PM »

with many years of playing online games ..." I have never gotten a bug/virus ect while playing a game !!! "
I dont run a firewall... and for the last three years ive just ran a simple popup stopper , a antivirus scanner , and a couple of closed ports. i also keep my startup programs to a mininum.

I did catch a virus once by opening an email that autoran. that was on a freshly formatted pc that wasnt setup with the 3 things i do , and using my old yahell email box.

The Mrs Roo brought some home once from a kazaa dl of several shareware programs... and that was on her mums pc thats on a firewall with tons of other anti this goodies on it... so is a firewall really that safe ??? maybe from hacks /bandwith theifs,ect... but not really from yourselves and what you download or open .

one note is that the receint xp exploiting bugs are a ms programing fault mostly.

At work were we have 7 pc's and sensitive programs we have an 486 thats set up as a gateway for the network .

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #8 on:** September 01, 2003, 01:07:11 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Roscoroo
so is a firewall really that safe ??? maybe from hacks /bandwith theifs,ect... but not really from yourselves and what you download or open .

That goes without saying! We are our own worst enemies. These new worms do not require you to download or open anything - they come in through open ports and attack systems not patched with the current updates. So far, I have never had a virus or worm but I am a little cautious about what I open/download and I keep my Critical Updates current. I am careful but not paranoid. Norton has caught a few virus's in email but I wan't dumb nuff to open them. I only installed the router after the initial release of the Blaster worm and I have always run a software firewall. The peace of mind is well woth it.
DJ229 - AIR MAFIA

Xjazz · « **Reply #9 on:** September 01, 2003, 02:19:31 AM »

My firewall get many Default Back Door/Subseven trojan hits daily period.

I just make a Subseven search to the AH bbs and found following:

MrSid wrote:
"Take into note that if you play h2h, Aces High gets mistaken for subseven probe"
http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4276&highlight=subseven

Please, could somebody give more detailed info about this one?

Roscoroo · « **Reply #10 on:** September 01, 2003, 04:05:05 AM »

when i played with several different firewall programs i used to get those also... Some of them turned out to be my own ISP pinging my pc ... so im not shure if they were actually bugs/hackers or not
I never got infected by one though. even on irc.

they may also be hits for other reasons also ... go ahead and research it ...

Im not saying firewalls are bad , or good its all in each users preference. I'm just stating what has always worked good for me . without all the extra cost .ect

If your on a big hard drive with a hi-speed connect and XP .or a bizness pc , id say go ahead and run a hard fire wall .or a gateway set up as a firewall/router

I tried XP for awhile and it turned out to be more hassle/resource hog then it was worth to me for the few extra bells and whistles it has. I wish ms would get on the stick and build a better os.

As for my thoughts on hacks getting my home pc ... so what if they do or i catch a bug... everything important is backed up .
and they would have to flash my bios to hurt my pc . anything else i can repair
heres a few links that will help you understand if you want to take the time ...

http://www.ontrack.com/virusinfofaqs/index.asp#Q3

virus encyclopidia and search

http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/

subseven links page for your reading pleasure

http://www.trendmicro.com/search/google/results.asp?q=Subseven+trojan

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #11 on:** September 01, 2003, 06:10:06 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Roscoroo
Im not saying firewalls are bad , or good its all in each users preference. I'm just stating what has always worked good for me . without all the extra cost .ect

I agree with most of what you say. I don't even bother with loggin the reports of attempted access cause I don't care as long as they don't get in. Cost? The software firewall is free and routers start at $30. I spent a bit more for a good 11.g wireless setup for laptop access, too. I have XP on 2 boxes and like it cause of features and it never crashes. I turned off all the useless crap follOwing : http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
But as you say, to each his own.
DJ229 - AIR MAFIA