DSL And Internet Security

[Soulstation1]

my computer's hard drive died last week, not from a virus or worm.

if i would of bought the 3 year warranty i still would be s.o.l. by alittle over a month. bought hp computer in july 2003

i finally get the dsl and a month later my h.d. dies, i wasn't a happy camper.

so i just spent some "scratch" on a new hard drive, new memory and the other extras. this was the very next day after getting the cell phone.

i picked up norton's 2004 anti-virus and linksys dsl/firewall router.

it seems like i am pretty well protected.

any comments.

i think our dsl thread was deleted.

ss1

[Dan Gould]

We've been very happy with our Norton Firewall. My wife entered our C/C info and on multiple occasions, it has blocked this info from going out on the request of websites like MSN and others. We never get an acceptable explanation of why the websites tried to get the info in the first place, but its good to know that the firewall is doing its job.

[Use3D]

If you have a hardware/NAT firewall the software firewall is useless. Software firewalls are based on the opertaing system which they were designed for, thus if the operating system is vulnerable (Win2000/WinXP) then a software firewall will do nothing to protect you. Be sure your OS is completely up to date, for windows users you can goto micro$ofts website and get updates.

Of course if you use Linux you will never have to worry about worms or 90% of the viruses out there...or massive security vulnerabilities hardcoded into the operating system.

[Soulstation1]

fwiw

i still only have windows 98, second version.

[Peter Johnson]

I dig your style, Soul--I'm on Windows 98, First Edition (old skool!) virus- and worm-free!!!

[SEK]

My aged machine has Windows 98 SE, which has not been subject to many of the latest internet nasties. I use Norton Antivirus fulltime and Kaspersky AV on-demand. My Outpost software firewall does a better job than the Norton Firewall that I used previously (and requires fewer resources).

I also use updated Adaware and Spybot monthly and have been doing a Windows Update twice a month.

I had a "high-speed" internet connection for a little while, but now I'm back to a sluggish dialup connection most of the time. The superior ad- and popup-blocking capabilities of the Outpost firewall is the only thing that makes web-surfing bearable, but I miss those fast downloads...