Internet Firewalls
One of the most famous
stories about someone from the dark side molesting
your computer while you are signed on the Internet is about the
"redialer." The bad guys in question would send you an
e-mail note asking you to "CLICK HERE" for whatever reason,
just to pick off your Internet address (The IP address, everyone on
the net has one). Once you clicked on their "message," they
had you. They then sent a series of commands back to your PC,
telling your modem to disconnect you from the Web, silence your
modem's sound, then redial, without you knowing it, to a strange,
exotic land.
Well,
I don't know about exotic. but the land is called "Greed."
The toll call was exorbitant and fraudulent. And it can be prevented.
That is probably the crudest form of attack on your PC. Today's
thieves are a lot more subtle than the original "redialers,"
They want more than an expensive telephone charge; they are after
your account numbers and passwords. They want your data.
Several
companies have recently announced Home Firewall Programs specifically
to protect the home PC user. The Firewall actually acts like a screen
between the Internet and your PC. McAfee and Norton have both
acquired companies this year that specialize in firewall programs,
just to address the consumer PC market. Corporate America has used
firewalls, software which actually determines what commands or what
data passes from or to your Internet-connected computer, for several
years now.
The
corporate firewalls are a combination of hardware and software that
protect the companies PCs and mainframes from unauthorized access.
Programs like "Phoenix," "Raptor," and
"Sidewinder" are but a few of the commercial programs
available for business use.
The
site at:
http://www.icsa.net/html/communities/firewalls/certification/vendors/index/shtml
allows you to check what is commercially available, while home PC
users should check
http://www.10wizard.com/go.shtml?sq=Firewall
to see what is current. The home user site also
lists prices.
Several
Internet services. such as AOL and Compuserve, use "proxy
servers." That means they have another system that actually
interfaces the Internet, not the system you actually link to when you
sign on. Attacks are rarer than through direct access, but not
impossible. Another benefit of the proxy server is the instant
access to your e-mail. It is already downloaded at the proxy server,
and all you have to do is read it when you log on. In the
commercial world, the firewalls are an impediment to the normal flow
of business. Legitimate file transfer programs (FTPs) often get
bogged down or canceled by the ever-watchful firewall programs. But
there is no alternative to the security the firewall programs offer.
The
average Internet user can not afford to have data stolen or erased.
People keep their financial records on Quicken or Microsoft's Money
programs, among others.
Keeping out the bad guys and girls becomes a more serious issue
every day.
George
Mindling
©
2000
