firewall attacks

[jordanearl]

In the last 3 days i have been attacked by 3 different people. All 3 have the same Helken in common.  I Use the Defender Pro 05 for my antivirus, firewall, etc.  I also use adaware se from lavasoft every few days to kill spyware.  Is there any adverse affects of these attempts on my computer?  Also is there anything that would make me stand out as far as why people are attempting to hack into my computer?  Sorry about all the ?  It jus burns my ass when people  f with my sh*t

[ktrim]

if you are not using xp service pack 2,  upgrade now.  ithelps with alot of security problems.  also microsft anti spyware-beta found several spyware programs on my pc that adaware and spybot s/d did not find.  I would recomend downloading adaware, spybot and micrsoft anti spy and using all 3 as they each find things the others dont.  you may have some program running that is marking you as vulnerable

[Rema1000]

Unless you have a reason to be fully connected to the 'net, it helps quite a bit to have your PC behind a simple broadband router doing NAT.   This means that the IP address you see in "winipcfg" or "ipconfig" is different from the IP address you see if you visit http://whatismyip.com .  This is usually done by default, by wireless access points, or other "home Internet routers".

It's not a real firewall, but it will stop 99% of the hack attempts, reducing the annoyance factor a bit.  But if you do P2P filesharing, or host a website on your PC, then it takes extra work to get it set-up.

[jordanearl]

:dunno: i really wish i knew what u just said rema.  I have a netopia dsl box that connects me to the net, but i dunno about any routers like u are speaking of.  I do a little bit of p2p also, but as of late i haven't been.

[weaselnoze]

you may not have a router then.  what kind of line is from the modem to your tower?

[callmelenny]

Like Rema says a $10 router will block a lot of problems that come from the kiddies looking for open ports. I set one up on my mom's pc that had been zombiefied due to her and my dad clicking OK for anything that popped up and they have had fewer problems.

If you ever looked at the logs for  dsl or cable modem you would be amazed at the number of hits they get.

I set my Mac up exposed to the 'net to watch all the traffic when I'm bored.

[jordanearl]

ok so the router is something i need to invest in, i thought it was something i had already.  So where is the cheapest place to pick one of these up at.  

you may not have a router then. what kind of line is from the modem to your tower?

I beleive its the ethernet cable

[jason_S]

ok so the router is something i need to invest in, i thought it was something i had already.  So where is the cheapest place to pick one of these up at.  

you may not have a router then. what kind of line is from the modem to your tower?

I beleive its the ethernet cable

Plain DSL modem's connect to your computer via the ethernet port same as a router does.  Well, some modems have optional USB connectors, but so do some modem/router combo units.  I'd rcommend checking out http://www.dslreports.com for pretty much anything you want to know about broadband and networking in general.  They can help you identify what type of hardware you have and help you secure your system.

[callmelenny]

Something like this is cheap and will give you wireless too.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10328497&adid=17662

The installation is easy.

[Blueknyt]

could also install SyGate if its still around. software firewall, works good