Am I the only one?

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  1. Posts : 1,024
    Windows 7 Ultimate
       #1

    Am I the only one?


    Hello,
    Recently had a problem with my Linksys Router and their Tech Support stated the unit needed replacement. I replaced it with a DLink DIR-615. It is up and running with two concerns.
    Am I the only one who doesn't have a list of URL's of malicious sites to put in the router setup? I mean I can put a bunch of the in. Is their a site that gives say the top 20 malicious sites?
    The second problem harks back to how to disable ping. In the setup of the DLink router I disabled the router (I think), yet the GRC test still shows it responding causing to me to fail the test. Can anyone assist, I of course am probably doing something wrong. Just don't know what.
    Thanks for any assistance!
    glennc
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,039
    Several, including Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
       #2

    Lists of malicious sites are not normally set up on the router, they are set up on your machine using the Hosts file

    Here is such a host file containing a large list of malicious sites;

    http://www.mvps.org/***********/hosts.txt

    However, using a large hosts file can slow down your internet connection.

    More information;

    http://www.mvps.org/***********/hosts.htm

    http://www.mvps.org/***********/hosts2.htm

    http://www.mvps.org/***********/hostsfaq.htm

    As I told you before, disabling the PING service on your router makes no difference to security.

    The router you have uses dual active firewalls;

    D-Link Wireless N 300 Router

    There is no way for a PING to reach your machine. Anybody pinging you will only get the address of the router. Anybody sending anything to your router is pointless unless you have specifically opened a port. It will be ignored.

    Malicious sites are only dangerous to you if you allow them access. They can not simply access your machine through a firewalled router.

    Regards....Mike Connor
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,024
    Windows 7 Ultimate
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Mike Connor said:
    Lists of malicious sites are not normally set up on the router, they are set up on your machine using the Hosts file

    Here is such a host file containing a large list of malicious sites;

    http://www.mvps.org/***********/hosts.txt

    However, using a large hosts file can slow down your internet connection.

    More information;

    http://www.mvps.org/***********/hosts.htm

    http://www.mvps.org/***********/hosts2.htm

    http://www.mvps.org/***********/hostsfaq.htm

    As I told you before, disabling the PING service on your router makes no difference to security.

    The router you have uses dual active firewalls;

    D-Link Wireless N 300 Router

    There is no way for a PING to reach your machine. Anybody pinging you will only get the address of the router. Anybody sending anything to your router is pointless unless you have specifically opened a port. It will be ignored.

    Malicious sites are only dangerous to you if you allow them access. They can not simply access your machine through a firewalled router.

    Regards....Mike Connor

    EDIT: For some reason the board software will not allow those links. If you want to use them you will have to go here; Welcome to the MVPs.org home page! and search on the site for "Hosts file".
    Hello Mike,
    I have been inundated with data, so I apologize about the ping thing. GRC stated it was a regular old time attack route, what do I know? I've turned them off in the DLink Setup Page, yet they still show up on GRC's test. I've set it WPA2 AES with MAC filtering on my three machines that use it. In reference to the malicious sites, there appear to be about a million of them on all different programs. I will admit I haven't a clue. Do you suggest I set up a list of blocked sites?
    I am glad to hear that my router has two firewalls, although understanding what that meant would be better, I know it is complicated. I'm not broadcasting the SSID. But there are so many options that were not on the Linksys options let alone the G DLink. I did not WiFi protect my wireless, but went in and set them manually.
    Also for some reason only know to the knowing, the network changed from Network 2 to Network 4. To make matters worse, Commodo shows Network 2 and loopback as allowed. I removed everything else, it did NOT have a Network 4 showing.
    Everything appears outwardly to be operating correctly within my ability to discern.
    Do you have any more of your knowledgeable recommendations, suggestions, opinions, heck anything!! Thanks for your assistance.
    Glenn
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2,039
    Several, including Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
       #4

    glennc said:
    Do you have any more of your knowledgeable recommendations, suggestions, opinions, heck anything!! Thanks for your assistance.
    Glenn
    First of all, forget about Gibson research and their obsession with PING! :) It is not security relevant. Most especially not if you are behind a router firewall.

    If you are behind a router firewall, a ping, or indeed any other access attempt of any sort, can not reach your machine. Unless the router has been expressly programmed to open a port, or you are using a tunneling protocol, NOTHING can directly access your machine.

    You are worrying too much for no good reason. My advice in this case would be to do nothing at all. The router you have is a good solid piece of equipment with no known issues.

    If you have your machine set up properly with an anti-virus program, then you have nothing much to worry about. All you have to be careful of is scam e-mails and similar, which you can effectively combat using this;

    Mailwasher Free Spam Filter Software: The Reliable Free Spam Blocker | MailWasher - Mailwasher Free

    This software deletes them on your provider server before they even reach your machine. Once set up it is absolutely reliable. In my opinion the best system available.

    I have been using this for years. I got a free life-time licence as one of the original beta-testers. The freeware only works on ONE mail account. If you have more than one account you need the paid version.

    Also, you must be careful what you click on or download, and you should check any sites you use with this;

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/fir...-kidsafe-site/

    I don't bother with the toolbars etc . I just look at the results it gives me when I am searching Google for instance.

    If you are uncertain about any download, then submit it here;

    VirusTotal - Free Online Virus, Malware and URL Scanner

    BEFORE you download it.

    Don't use any torrent or other peer to peer "sharing" software, it is always dangerous.

    If you do all that then you are as safe as anyone can be on the Internet, and certainly have no cause for excessive worry.

    I usually scan my machine about once a week with Malwarebytes, just in case I may have made a mistake somewhere. And I use http://www.avira.com/free free antivirus software.

    I have not had a virus or anything like that on any of my machines for years. ( Unless I put it there on purpose! For testing or similar).

    Regards....Mike Connor
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #5

    I would have to say you are going way past what most people would do for a home network. Mac filtering can be a royal pain for certain devices, or if you have family or friends stop over. Just use a strong protection method with a strong key. You'll have the hardware firewall in place, as well as the one in Windows 7. Run good AV that you keep updated, and have Malwarebytes as a free, second opinion for manual scans. Combine that with common sense and good computing habits, and you'll be fine.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 578
    Windows 7 Pro x64
       #6

    Not sure you fully understand the real purpose of a router.
    Not only is it to make having a LAN easier, with the built in DHCP server assigning IPs to your hardware on your LAN, but to separate the public, internet, side from the private, LAN, side. Blocking all incoming traffic from the public side with NAT (Network address translation), which is basically a rudimentary firewall, unless YOU SPECIFICALLY allow that traffic to enter your LAN by opening and forwarding ports to a specific IP address inside your LAN.

    None of this has anything to do with WiFi. WiFi is on your LAN and gets the same security from the public, internet, side as does all the hardware wired to the router.
    Where security is needed on WiFi is to block people, Computers, from connecting to the WiFi signal without you specifically allowing them to connect.
    No one from the internet side can logon to your WiFi signal.
    MAC filtering is not security. No need to use it, IMHO and many others. Disabling SSID is no security. It only makes it harder for YOU to connect to YOUR WiFi.

    Ping Sming. Don't worry about it. So your router is pingable. Ping IS PING. That is all it does. My router is pingable also. Has any of my PCs inside my LAN ever been hacked through ping or any other method, NO. And I have a static public IP that is hit all the time. I can post the logs from my router to prove that. I also have ports open so "I" can get to PCs on my LAN from the outside, internet. I use Remote Desktop to connect to my home LAN and for the longest time I used the default port 3389. Even with that I have never been hacked because I have a very secure password on all my PCs. So even if someone tried to connect to RD, and people have tried, they would be met with a user name they didn't know and a password that would take forever to figure out, including the password on the built in Administrators account.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,024
    Windows 7 Ultimate
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Mike Connor said:
    glennc said:
    Do you have any more of your knowledgeable recommendations, suggestions, opinions, heck anything!! Thanks for your assistance.
    Glenn
    First of all, forget about Gibson research and their obsession with PING! :) It is not security relevant. Most especially not if you are behind a router firewall.

    If you are behind a router firewall, a ping, or indeed any other access attempt of any sort, can not reach your machine. Unless the router has been expressly programmed to open a port, or you are using a tunneling protocol, NOTHING can directly access your machine.

    You are worrying too much for no good reason. My advice in this case would be to do nothing at all. The router you have is a good solid piece of equipment with no known issues.

    If you have your machine set up properly with an anti-virus program, then you have nothing much to worry about. All you have to be careful of is scam e-mails and similar, which you can effectively combat using this;

    Mailwasher Free Spam Filter Software: The Reliable Free Spam Blocker | MailWasher - Mailwasher Free

    This software deletes them on your provider server before they even reach your machine. Once set up it is absolutely reliable. In my opinion the best system available.

    I have been using this for years. I got a free life-time licence as one of the original beta-testers. The freeware only works on ONE mail account. If you have more than one account you need the paid version.

    Also, you must be careful what you click on or download, and you should check any sites you use with this;

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/fir...-kidsafe-site/

    I don't bother with the toolbars etc . I just look at the results it gives me when I am searching Google for instance.

    If you are uncertain about any download, then submit it here;

    VirusTotal - Free Online Virus, Malware and URL Scanner

    BEFORE you download it.

    Don't use any torrent or other peer to peer "sharing" software, it is always dangerous.

    If you do all that then you are as safe as anyone can be on the Internet, and certainly have no cause for excessive worry.

    I usually scan my machine about once a week with Malwarebytes, just in case I may have made a mistake somewhere. And I use Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus free antivirus software.

    I have not had a virus or anything like that on any of my machines for years. ( Unless I put it there on purpose! For testing or similar).

    Regards....Mike Connor
    Yo Mike,
    Glad to hear!!!! I feel pretty secure. Use Norton 2011, Comodo with standalone scans with MSE, AntiMalwareBytes and SuperAntispyware. Once in a while I have the bootable Avira disk and give the comp a once over. Paranoia is the ultimate form of self preservation :). Thanks for the advice and recommendations.
    Glenn
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1,024
    Windows 7 Ultimate
    Thread Starter
       #8

    DeaconFrost said:
    I would have to say you are going way past what most people would do for a home network. Mac filtering can be a royal pain for certain devices, or if you have family or friends stop over. Just use a strong protection method with a strong key. You'll have the hardware firewall in place, as well as the one in Windows 7. Run good AV that you keep updated, and have Malwarebytes as a free, second opinion for manual scans. Combine that with common sense and good computing habits, and you'll be fine.
    Howdy DeacoFrost,
    One would assume that I want my friends and family access to my network. The only thing my sister-in-law did was go on Facebook. I'm pretty sure she has no idea of computer issues. That issue aside, yes I am a bit over the top. I feel secure, peace of mind and such. Thanks for the advice!
    Glenn
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 1,024
    Windows 7 Ultimate
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Shootist said:
    Not sure you fully understand the real purpose of a router.
    Not only is it to make having a LAN easier, with the built in DHCP server assigning IPs to your hardware on your LAN, but to separate the public, internet, side from the private, LAN, side. Blocking all incoming traffic from the public side with NAT (Network address translation), which is basically a rudimentary firewall, unless YOU SPECIFICALLY allow that traffic to enter your LAN by opening and forwarding ports to a specific IP address inside your LAN.

    None of this has anything to do with WiFi. WiFi is on your LAN and gets the same security from the public, internet, side as does all the hardware wired to the router.
    Where security is needed on WiFi is to block people, Computers, from connecting to the WiFi signal without you specifically allowing them to connect.
    No one from the internet side can logon to your WiFi signal.
    MAC filtering is not security. No need to use it, IMHO and many others. Disabling SSID is no security. It only makes it harder for YOU to connect to YOUR WiFi.

    Ping Sming. Don't worry about it. So your router is pingable. Ping IS PING. That is all it does. My router is pingable also. Has any of my PCs inside my LAN ever been hacked through ping or any other method, NO. And I have a static public IP that is hit all the time. I can post the logs from my router to prove that. I also have ports open so "I" can get to PCs on my LAN from the outside, internet. I use Remote Desktop to connect to my home LAN and for the longest time I used the default port 3389. Even with that I have never been hacked because I have a very secure password on all my PCs. So even if someone tried to connect to RD, and people have tried, they would be met with a user name they didn't know and a password that would take forever to figure out, including the password on the built in Administrators account.
    Howdy Shootist,
    Thanks for stopping in. I'm a bit of a creature of habit and have been using the above methods since I went wireless. IIRC I put a wireless router on before I even had wireless devices to get the added security. But as technology changes, I've fallen behind. So many features and options, so little time.
    Can you explain briefly what wifi protected option actually does?
    glennc
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 2,039
    Several, including Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
       #10

    glennc said:

    Yo Mike,
    Glad to hear!!!! I feel pretty secure. Use Norton 2011, Comodo with standalone scans with MSE, AntiMalwareBytes and SuperAntispyware. Once in a while I have the bootable Avira disk and give the comp a once over. Paranoia is the ultimate form of self preservation :). Thanks for the advice and recommendations.
    Glenn
    Good, stop worrying and just use the machine for a while.

    A little "paranoia" may be advantageous, as it tends to make people more careful, but it can easily turn into obsession. Also, being paranoid about something does not mean they are not after you! Of course there are nutjobs, scammers, spammers, hackers, and other assorted lowlifes on the internet, and they ARE out to get you! :) They are out to get everybody!

    With a little care it is not too difficult to stay out of their reach, and so I prefer to term this as taking appropriate measures and care, rather than paranoia.

    Regards....Mike Connor
      My Computer


 
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