I have to confess to being a Bad User - I don't run virus protection software
on my computer other than LavaSoft's AdAware (a spyware detection/removal
facility), so I'm not familiar with everything that any specific virus
protection package will do for you. Our home network is run through a separate
router/firewall box that does not depend on microsoft software, so our main
protection from the open-port scenario is through obscurity - there are a lot
fewer firewall routers out there than exposed Microsoft operating systems, and
the virus writers mainly go for the biggest, easiest target out there. Also,
with the firewall being a physically separate thing it's harder for the virus
writers to attack them, since they're typically accessed through proprietary
HTML interfaces. It would be hard to write code that would address even a
fraction of the firewalls out there, and to get through the password protection
that these firewalls use.
Way back when the Mac and Amiga were first popular because they were
easy-to-design-for homogeneous platforms (as opposed to the PCs in the pre-486,
pre-Windows days), viruses for the Mac and Amiga were so prevalent that it was
very hard to keep from getting them if you exchanged data and applications with
other users. Nowadays the same problem afflicts the Windows platform because of
the number of platforms out there and the ease with which a bad guy can get
executable code into the system.
Anyway, my opinion on the open port stuff is that the firewall software should
be used in concert with antivirus software, and they'd need to work together to
maintain system integrity. If a virus got through and executed a command that
opened a port on the firewall, then it would be hard for the firewall software
to detect that this was not a legitimate operation by the user. Therefore, the
antivirus software has to instruct the firewall software to close the opened
ports as part of its sterilization process - otherwise it's not effective.
Regards,
Theo
FunbeamChuck wrote:
> Theo,
> Nicely put. Does personal firewall software ( like McAfee) protect the open
> IP port problem?
> All the Best,
> FunbeamChuck
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