I have Zone alarm firewall & AVG Antivirus both r free edition & r fully updated. I have NTFS file system on all hard drives.
Sometimes the firewall turns off on it’s own & i have to restart the firewall to make it active.
I also use utorrent & i have allowed the firewall to allow Only Access to the net but not to act as server.
Chosen Answer:
A/V turning off all on it’s own is usually an indication of an infection… sometimes it can just be a reinstallation issue if lucky… I would look into that and maybe do a scan from one of the top vendor websites that offer web scanning..
So the answer to your question is YES but a properly configured firewall will help in that not happening…
Basically the way it works is an attacker will scan for open ports… and will scan for programs running on the computer that is unpatched and has known vulnerabilities.
If any of these are found they are points of possible entry.
So if you don’t have windows updates with the latest security patches then they could fund an MS vulnerability and attack it and possibly gain entry even through your firewall.
There’s even something called “Firewalking” that goes around the firewall looking for ways in…
The more untrustworthy type services you have running (such as torrent softeware) the more chances of finding the right hole to crawl in through.
If on top of all that the attacker actually knows your IP and is specifically targetting you then you could be in for some trouble.
You can type netstat -a at the command prompt and see what’s open for connections.. an even better tool which does not come with windows is FPORT which will show you specifically what program is connecting on what port.
Very useful if you think you’ve got extra connections happening. You will be shocked if you run either of these while you have a chat program or a torrent program running…
Obvuously having a/v, firewall, etc.. running and up to date and all things patched will help keep attackers out.. but nothing can take the place of wise internet habits.
good luck.
by: ForensicGirl █▓█☺█▓█
on: 20th September 07