closing open ports

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard
  • Start date Start date
R

Richard

My stand alone windows 2000 laptop shows ports 135 and
1025 open and vulnerable.I have unbound everything but
TCP/IP, unchecked "enable distribution com on this
computer" and they are still open. MS article 825750
addresses disabling dcom but states that following the
procedures there could screw up all kinds of stuff. Is
there anything I can do for this vulnerability short of
installing a firewall?- And if I did that, would it close
these vulnerabilities? Thanks
 
The purpose of a firewall is to protect a computer from untrusted networks such as
the internet. To me it makes no sense to cripple a computer and not use a firewall.
There are great free firewalls available for personal use. Zone Alarm is good for
novice users. I prefer using a internet appliance first if you use a cable/dsl modem.
I see them at Best Buy for as little as $19 after rebates these days. Even the cheap
nat devices are very effective for a user that has no ports opened to the internet
which is the case for 90 percent of users. Using an up to date virus scanner, and
keeping critical updates current is also a very important part of securing a
computer. -- Steve

http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
http://www.webattack.com/Freeware/security/fwfirewall.shtml
 
Have you considered closing port 1025 using an IPSEC
Policy? I don't know for sure if its built into Windows
2000 Desktop or not but would be an easy way to stop 1025
traffic.

Go to Start --> Run, then type 'secpol.msc'
 
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