Norton Internet Security 2005 Question

I originally posted this in the spyware thread, upon suggestion I have posted my issue here. Here's the deal.

OS- Windows XP
Running Norton AntiVirus and Internet Security 2005

When I perform the security scan on the symantec website the only thing that comes back as a "risk" is exposure to hijackers through an open port, port 22 for SSH. It shows as "open" not "stealth" .

I cannot find anything in Norton that tells me how to stealth the port from a potential attack. I am fairly computer illeterate, hence my presence here. I welcome any help or suggestions you guys might have. THanks!

 

I take it that you are not running your pc behind a router. I looked on my NIS but cannot see an independant option to stealth that port.

If you are as security conscious as you appear to be, then I would suggest that you get yourself a router. Using a router and sitting behing a NAT will to all extend make you invisible. Some router even have firewalls as well so you will also have stronger defences. They are not very expensive and reasonably easy to set up.

My set up is router based (with built in firewall), on top of that I run NAV and firewall on each pc on my LAN. Whatever test site I go to, be it sygatech, shieldsup or the symantec one my results are always that everything is stealthed.....

Hope this helps

 

THat does help alot. Maybe I should have included the following information:
With my job, I am on the road a LOT, and the places I stay are usually hotels, etc that offer free broadband internet service. This is the service I am currently using. I have no idea what the hotel has as far as servers, etc. All I know is I plug the high speed cable into my jack and it's off to surf away.
Is it possible to buy a router and just carry it with me, plug the connection to the router, to my laptop? I have a lot of company sensitive info on here, and I want to keep it protected, even from a slight chance at intrusion.
THanks for your help!

 

fratguy, I am not sure what your best course of action is from here in respect of the open port with NIS. As regards carrying a router with you I think there would be pratical difficulties connecting it as a stand alone unit within the hotel's setup.

However perhaps I can give you a different insight. You say you have a lot of company sensitive info on your laptop.

A solution which would protect the data would be to get some webspace (FTP) with a webhosting company. You could transfer the data easily by way of your browser. The data would never actually 'live' on your pc so losing the pc is not an issue (well data wise). The folders/files that you would put on your FTP space could all be password protected so little chance of anyone accessing them.

You would then just call up your browser probably IE and when the FTP sapce opens (takes a second) then you could just use it in a seamless manner by creating files on your pc and 'saving' them on you FTP space instead of a place on your HDD.....

Sorry to rabbit on but it may be of interest to you.

Oh BTW 250Mb of space would probalbly cost you a few dollars a month. I pay £5 per month for 800Mb and 300 email address.

Good luck if you need more info let me know and I will try to helpout if I can..

 

My the things we can do with computers.

When I just opened IE this time, my NIS just blocked a backdoor trojan attack.... At least I know it is working.....

Thank you for your help. If I decide to go that route, I will certainly give you a shout!

*THANKS!!*

If anyone else has ideas, I'd like to hear them!

 

do you work for a company with a dedicated IT staff or person? If you do he can set up something similar to what risk reversal said. He could set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection on your laptop so that you'd never have the company data on your hard drive, it would be stored on a server inside the company's network and you'd just be accessing it via the VPN. I set one up a while ago and it works like a charm.