[AT] OT virus warning

charlie hill chill8 at suddenlink.net
Sat Aug 18 06:34:52 PDT 2007


Mike,  In my case it wasn't a matter of the router getting slow it was just 
slower than being hardwired to the modem.  I couldn't run things like 
streaming audio or video on the router.  I decided I'd rather be tied to the 
wall and have the extra speed so I disconnected it.

Zone Alarm does a great job of controlling what gets in and out.  The 
problem comes with actually trying to figure out what some of these programs 
that want to access the Internet are.  As David said, everything from your 
mouse and printers to, in my case, some of my business software constantly 
want access to the web.  The programs names that show up on the Zone Alarm 
list often are not familiar to me.  Sometimes I try searching for them 
online.  I still can't always figure them out  and when I can I'm often not 
sure if it's something I can block access to without causing a problem. 
Believe me,  when I have only a few minutes to get a very big file 
transmitted in PDF format, I don't want to start trying to remember what I 
turned off or limited access to a week before.

The current list on my Zone Alarm of programs that want access to the 
Internet numbers into well over 100.  I just don't know where to start or 
how to sort them out.

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Sloane" <mikesloane at verizon.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2007 7:41 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] OT virus warning


> The letters in the 802.11 standard don't really refer to dates  -
> actually the "a" standard was faster than "b". If you are running
> wireless NICs with 802.11b, buying a router with 802.11n functionality
> might increase your physical range a little, but you won't pick up any
> speed (nominally 10Mb/sec).
>
> Your old router may have had problems because it needed a new firmware
> download, not because "it got slow". Consult the original manual or go
> to the vendor's Website for information on bringing it up to date.
>
> As far as what a "firewall" does, your TCP/IP software provides a range
> of "ports" for data to flow in and out of your system. The firewall
> (whether it is hardware based or software based) simply monitors those
> ports and denies access to any source (in or out) that is not
> specifically permitted by the system administrator (you). What the
> hackers do, generally is search for systems that don't have firewalls
> and try to enter through "port 80" or some other "back door". The
> "worms" that come through various bogus messages start programs running
> that disable the software firewalls. They may also attempt to disable
> the hardware firewalls too, but I am not familiar with that function
> (the hardware firewall firmware is protected with a password that the
> administrator sets, but most users leave the password as the default
> that comes with the router).
>
> There are several Websites where you can run tests that try to break in
> to your system and report back the vulnerability.
>
> See <http://www.firewallguide.com/index.html> for a good source of
> information on firewalls, hacking, testing, etc.
>
> Mike
>
> charlie hill wrote:
>> Well I just finished 4 hours of running Housecall and all it found was a
>> vulnerability in IE7 that I had yet to download the patch for.  I got 
>> that
>> downloaded so I guess I'm ok.  AVG didn't find anything either and I'm
>> running the full featured paid version of Zone Alarm.
>>
>> I have a 802.11 B router but I quit running it a while back because it's 
>> too
>> slow.  I need to buy a new one.  What's it up to now version N?
>>
>> Charlie
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "charlie hill" <chill8 at suddenlink.net>
>> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" 
>> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>> Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 8:11 PM
>> Subject: Re: [AT] OT virus warning
>>
>>
>>
>>>Thanks Steve.  I'll try it.
>>>
>>>Charlie
>>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>>From: "Steve W." <falcon at telenet.net>
>>>To: "Antique tractor email discussion group"
>>><at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>>>Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 7:13 PM
>>>Subject: Re: [AT] OT virus warning
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Yep. Go grab a copy of the Sygate Personal Firewall. Install it and it
>>>>will show you EVERYTHING that is trying to connect and talk.
>>>>
>>>>http://download.oldversion.com/sygate562808.exe
>>>>
>>>>This is the last free version. Works pretty well at showing what is
>>>>going on.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>charlie hill wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Well after reading up on it a bit online (didn't find anything at Kim's
>>>>>site) I don't believe I have it.  I opened the e-mail but didn't click
>>>>>the
>>>>>retrieve card link inside the message.
>>>>>
>>>>>On a similar note.  Is there any way to tell what programs and or
>>>>>traffic
>>>>>is
>>>>>flowing into and out of a computer at any given moment.
>>>>>Sometimes my computer seems to be very slow and working very hard when 
>>>>>I
>>>>>don't have it doing anything.   I am paranoid about computer security 
>>>>>so
>>>>>it
>>>>>could be that all I have is an old computer.
>>>>>
>>>>>Charlie
>>>>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>>>>From: "charlie hill" <chill8 at suddenlink.net>
>>>>>To: "Antique tractor email discussion group"
>>>>><at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>>>>>Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 5:12 PM
>>>>>Subject: Re: [AT] OT virus warning
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>H.L.  I think that virus might have gotten me.  I got a virus
>>>>>>notification
>>>>>>from my ISP but I can't find it when I scan my system.
>>>>>>It must be a tough one because I have AVG and Zone Alarm both looking
>>>>>>at
>>>>>>everything that comes into and leaves my computer.  I kept getting
>>>>>>those
>>>>>>cards and kept deleting them unopened but I finally got curious and
>>>>>>since
>>>>>>AVG said it was clean I opened one of them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Thanks for the heads up.  I'm going to Kim's site now to see what she
>>>>>>says
>>>>>>about it.
>>>>>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>>>>>From: "H. L. Staples" <hlstaples at mcloudteleco.com>
>>>>>>To: "Antique tractor" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>>>>>>Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 4:46 PM
>>>>>>Subject: [AT] OT virus warning
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Greetings! You have a virus
>>>>>>Have you been receiving a lot of e-card notifications? I have. But
>>>>>>these
>>>>>>weren't really sent by friends or family. They're spam messages that
>>>>>>direct
>>>>>>you to a malicious Web site. Your computer will be infected by a 
>>>>>>virus.
>>>>>>And
>>>>>>antivirus programs can't protect you from these messages.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>This warning came through from Kim Komando.  I have been receiving 
>>>>>>lots
>>>>>>of
>>>>>>the so called greeting cards and hit the delete button ASAP.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>H. L. Staples
>>>>>>McLoud, Oklahoma
>>>>>>USA
>>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>>AT mailing list
>>>>>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>-- 
>>>>>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>>>>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>>>>Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.0/957 - Release Date:
>>>>>>8/16/2007
>>>>>>1:46 PM
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>>AT mailing list
>>>>>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>-- 
>>>>>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>>>>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>>>>Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.0/957 - Release Date:
>>>>>>8/16/2007
>>>>>>1:46 PM
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>AT mailing list
>>>>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>-- 
>>>>Steve W.
>>>>Near Cooperstown, New York
>>>>NRA Member
>>>>Pacifism - The theory that if they'd fed
>>>>Jeffrey Dahmer enough human flesh,
>>>>he'd have become a vegan.
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>AT mailing list
>>>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>-- 
>>>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>>Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.0/957 - Release Date: 
>>>>8/16/2007
>>>>1:46 PM
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>AT mailing list
>>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>>
>>>
>>>-- 
>>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.0/957 - Release Date: 8/16/2007
>>>1:46 PM
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> AT mailing list
>> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.0/959 - Release Date: 8/17/2007 
> 5:43 PM
> 




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