Best way to protect system with a cable modem??

[Salty Dog]

Finally decided to get a cable modem hooked up and don't really know all that much about if people can hack into my stuff or not once it is online 24/7. My wife does our banking online so I want to be sure that it is safe before I get it hooked up.

What should I use to protect the system or am I being paranoid??

[scubadude]

Firewall!...A hardware firewall to be exact! not a software firewall....you will have to learn how to configure the port routing but I recommend a DSL/Cable router, they usually have built in firewall protection. I also run an Anti Virus program as well as the firewall. LinkSys makes a fairly economical router w/built in hardware firewall and you can network computers together too. I also recommend getting Win2k or even WinXP which is much more secure....I dont know alot about WinXP but heard it was good....I know for a fact that Win2k is VERY secure though.....and one last note....Update all your stuff often. If hackers can find a back door in then they will use it....if you keep everything updated and secure usually they tire of trying to hack in.

[Firefish]

You can download ZoneAlarm at www.zonealarm.com It's free for home users and I believe it's one of the better firewalls out there. Black Ice, I've been told is a decent one also. FWIW

[schrocat]

Scuba,

you had to configure routing on a linksys DSL box?
I thought those utilized DHCP and enabled a quite automated hide address scheme...
plug and play...

Salty,

Zone Alarm...buy Pro with the add subtract bundle if you see it. (20.00)
Black Ice is decent, but ZA is better...
I've tried both, I suspect Black Ice let me down recently.
No issues with ZA.

[icemark]

The other thing to remember is too make sure you have a surge protector on your cable line.

Lighting strikes, and switchover surges on the cable lines can waste your system just as quick as unprotected wall outlets can.

[GregD]

As previously indicated you definitely need a firewall between your computer and the outside world. A firewall can be part of the hardware used to connect your machine to the cable modem or it can be in the form of software that runs on your machine.

I use both - I have the Linksys Cable modem Hub which has built in firewall capabilities. (this helps at the Network level)

I also use free firewall software on my pc (Tiny Personal Firewall (tinysoftware.com). Zone Alarm is also a good choice....In my research Black Ice is worthless (port blocking is weak and apps can be renamed to spoof legitimate applications)...

A good source of information about security can be found at

http://grc.com/default.htm

The site doesn't have the best layout but contains a large amount of useful information about machine security in fairly straighforward prose.

Hope this helps!
Greg D

[Rick]

Salty Dog,
Get what the Hacker use. Black Ice. It works great. I have cable modem. I have use Black Ice for about 4 years.
Here is there link.

http://www.networkice.com/


Rick

[scubadude]

Originally posted by schrocat
Scuba,

you had to configure routing on a linksys DSL box?
I thought those utilized DHCP and enabled a quite automated hide address scheme...
plug and play...

Well I have one box on my network as DHCP i believe...but the other box which i dont get online with much (my newest machine) has port routing on it so it is much more secure then my other two boxes....but its harder to do stuff....i.e. ICQ...FTP....Morpheus...etc etc....I basically use my piece of crap machine to kinda screen/filter all my files (from the net neway) before it goes into the other machines....I love the setup.