Vista + Firewall

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species8350

Hi,

Is the Vista Home Premium (32 bit) firewall good enough for on-line
banking purposes?

Thanks
 
species8350 said:
Hi,

Is the Vista Home Premium (32 bit) firewall good enough for on-line
banking purposes?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I would have a router with the hard firewall enabled if I were you.
Personally, I wouldn't use Windows of any flavor for on line banking. I
use Ubuntu for such tasks. http://www.ubuntu.com/.

If you want to see what ports you have open, go to:
http://www.auditmypc.com/ and take the Firewall test.

Alias
 
Carey said:
Yes.
Click to expand...

LOL! Good one. Totally ill informed but funny coming from an MVP that
believes No Care to be a good program along with Defenseless.

Why don't you take the firewall test at the site I cited in my previous
message?

Alias
 
Alias said:
I would have a router with the hard firewall enabled if I were you.
Personally, I wouldn't use Windows of any flavor for on line banking. I
use Ubuntu for such tasks. http://www.ubuntu.com/.

If you want to see what ports you have open, go to:
http://www.auditmypc.com/ and take the Firewall test.

Alias
Click to expand...


And your proof that Windows is unsuitable for online banking is where
exactly? I have done this for the longest time and have never had a breached
account..

I did the firewall tests and I passed all with flying colours. The problem
is that breaches happen because users fall foul of e-mail hoaxes which con
them into giving secure information away. The firewall plays no part, good
or bad..

Please explain yourself better..



--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
 
Mike said:
And your proof that Windows is unsuitable for online banking is where
exactly? I have done this for the longest time and have never had a
breached account..

I did the firewall tests and I passed all with flying colours. The
problem is that breaches happen because users fall foul of e-mail hoaxes
which con them into giving secure information away. The firewall plays
no part, good or bad..

Please explain yourself better..
Click to expand...

Ever hear of key loggers? MS patches vulnerabilities after the fact and
sometimes, years after the fact. It's a known fact that, compared to
Windows of any flavor, Ubuntu is bullet proof.

Of course, you probably have a hard firewall enabled in your router. Try
taking the tests with your box connected directly to the Internet.

Alias
 
Alias said:
Ever hear of key loggers? MS patches vulnerabilities after the fact and
sometimes, years after the fact. It's a known fact that, compared to
Windows of any flavor, Ubuntu is bullet proof.

Of course, you probably have a hard firewall enabled in your router. Try
taking the tests with your box connected directly to the Internet.

Alias
Click to expand...


Key loggers which are given permission to breach the firewall.. but key
loggers are not necessarily the main culprit.

More than a few are quite willing to give bank details to what they think is
a kosher e-mail from their banks. Doesn't matter whether Windows or Linux is
used..

My firewall passed all of the tests, behind and in front of the router..

My systems have ALWAYS passed all firewall tests. You would find that most
computers will pass the tests. It is the user who puts the system at risk
for the most part.

You plainly are incapable of educating your clients properly in safe use of
a Windows or Linux computer if the only security problem you see is a
firewall..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
 
Ever hear of key loggers? MS patches vulnerabilities after the fact and
sometimes, years after the fact. It's a known fact that, compared to
Windows of any flavor, Ubuntu is bullet proof.

Of course, you probably have a hard firewall enabled in your router. Try
taking the tests with your box connected directly to the Internet.

Alias
Click to expand...


Key loggers which are given permission to breach the firewall.. but key
loggers are not necessarily the main culprit.

More than a few are quite willing to give bank details to what they think is
a kosher e-mail from their banks. Doesn't matter whether Windows or Linux is
used..

My firewall passed all of the tests, behind and in front of the router..

My systems have ALWAYS passed all firewall tests. You would find that most
computers will pass the tests. It is the user who puts the system at risk
for the most part.

You plainly are incapable of educating your clients properly in safe use of
a Windows or Linux computer if the only security problem you see is a
firewall..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
 
species8350 said:
Hi,

Is the Vista Home Premium (32 bit) firewall good enough for on-line
banking purposes?
Click to expand...

A firewall's purpose that runs on a computer or a FW that is protecting a
network is to protect the computer or a network from hostile intrusion.
That's its job and nothing else.

What is going to protect your online banking session between the Internet
traffic with your bank's computer and your computer is HTTPS.

The FW has nothing to do with HTTPS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Https

When you see HTTPS://www.bank.com in the address line of the browser, you'll
know that you're in a secure connection that no one can evesdrop on the
traffic between your computer and the bank's computer.

Now, if the bank's computer or your computer has been compormisted by
malware, then that's another story. So there is some level of trust from you
on the bank's end, and you would have to trust that your machine has not been
compormised by malware looking to exploit this situation.


But as far as a FW on your end or the bank's end has nothing to do with a
secure connection between your computer and the bank's computer. That's the
job of HTTPS.
 
Mike said:
Key loggers which are given permission to breach the firewall.. but key
loggers are not necessarily the main culprit.
Click to expand...

No, one of many.
More than a few are quite willing to give bank details to what they
think is a kosher e-mail from their banks. Doesn't matter whether
Windows or Linux is used..
True.


My firewall passed all of the tests, behind and in front of the router..
Click to expand...

Really? I don't believe you.
My systems have ALWAYS passed all firewall tests. You would find that
most computers will pass the tests. It is the user who puts the system
at risk for the most part.
Click to expand...

More lies, hmmm, I wonder why?
You plainly are incapable of educating your clients properly in safe use
of a Windows or Linux computer if the only security problem you see is a
firewall..
Click to expand...

Oh, go **** yourself. Windows is the security problem and its firewall.

Alias
 
I use the vista firewall and also do online banking and haven't had any
problems but, as Ollis pointed out in his reply, the most important thing is
to make sure that access to your account is through an https link.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Ever hear of key loggers? MS patches vulnerabilities after the fact and
sometimes, years after the fact. It's a known fact that, compared to
Windows of any flavor, Ubuntu is bullet proof.
Click to expand...

Well, ya know, that's kind of an exaggeration. The most you can say
is that Unix based OS's are less vulnerable to compromises that require
administrative access.
 
the said:
Well, ya know, that's kind of an exaggeration. The most you can say
is that Unix based OS's are less vulnerable to compromises that require
administrative access.
Click to expand...

I wrote "compared to Windows".

Alias
 
Really? I don't believe you.
Click to expand...

Why not? It's perfectly possible to configure a host based
firewall securely. In fact, my biggest problem with the default Windows
firewall config is that it denies too much for a normal desktop system.
Oh, go **** yourself. Windows is the security problem and its firewall.
Click to expand...

Ummmm, frankly, this kind of untruth does no one any good.
 
I wrote "compared to Windows".
Click to expand...

The most you can say is that compared to Windows Unix based OS's
are less vulenrable to compromises that require administrative access.

There, happy now? :-)
 
the said:
Why not? It's perfectly possible to configure a host based
firewall securely. In fact, my biggest problem with the default Windows
firewall config is that it denies too much for a normal desktop system.
Click to expand...

Perhaps the Vista one is better than the XP one. With the XP firewall,
ports are open.
Ummmm, frankly, this kind of untruth does no one any good.
Click to expand...

You are saying that Windows is secure in the hands of clueless users who
never update anything? I just cleaned up an XP machine with the
following programs not being updated:

Flash

Java

Adobe Reader

Spybot

Spywareblaster

Windows

Needless to say, it had a root kit, 10 viruses and untold malware
(including a key logger) that superantispyware and spybot found. Her C
drive was completely red after doing an fragmentation analysis with over
20,000 files fragmented. She called me because she didn't understand why
her bank account had been cleared out and that her computer was slow.

Had this very same person been using Ubuntu, she would have been able to
update it when needed due to the Orange icon that appears when updates
are available. I asked her why she didn't update Java and she asked,
"What's that?" She would also not have to be dealing with her bank,
trying to get her money back.

Alias
 
LOL! Good one. Totally ill informed but funny coming from an MVP that
believes No Care to be a good program along with Defenseless.
Click to expand...

What exactly is it about Windows that makes it unsuitable for
secured online transactions?
 
Perhaps the Vista one is better than the XP one. With the XP firewall,
ports are open.
Click to expand...

Sure, some are or NOTHING would work. Which ones do you object to?
You are saying that Windows is secure in the hands of clueless users who
never update anything? I just cleaned up an XP machine with the
following programs not being updated:
Click to expand...

No, I said "that compared to Windows a unix based OS is less
vulnerable to compromises that require administrative privileges".
 
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