ports

  • Thread starter Thread starter JeffJ
  • Start date Start date
J

JeffJ

when running the "netstat -a" command I show hundreds of
connections to ports. How do I close them?
 
There is no built-in way in Windows 2000 to do this. The best way to keep
ports closed is to use a firewall between your computer and the Internet.
Then you can open only the ports that are needed. I use a Linksys
router/switch that has some blocking capabilities, which keeps almost 100%
of nasties from seeing my computer from the Internet. A firewall has much
more dedicated abilities.

Also, you should scan your computer for spyware using both Spybot
(http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?lang=en&page=download)
and AdAware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/)

ZoneAlarm is another good program for detecting programs that are attempting
to communicate out from your computer.

And of course, a decent Anti-virus program that is kept up-to-date.

There are separate port blocking programs available, but I haven't found a
really intuitive one that is free. Perhaps someone else here can suggest
one. I tried one from AnalogX, but it didn't make a lot of sense to me.

-JasonW
 
True... also, if you have been surfing the Internet, some of those
connections might be perfectly normal. looking up the remote IP address or
host name by going to www.network-tools.com and
http://visualroute.visualware.com might help you try to determine if these
connections are normal or malicious.

www.kerio.com and www.sygate.com are two other free firewalls.
www.grisoft.com is free antivirus. http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com gives
you free Microsoft patches. Other things you might want to consider doing:

http://securityadmin.info/faq.htm#hacked
http://securityadmin.info/faq.htm#harden
 
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