Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Is security a worry at free wifi spots?
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Old 05-26-2010, 01:13 PM
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TrudyM TrudyM is offline
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Location: Bought Tamarind Grove, Mercer Island Wa, previously NH,FLA,Hi,CT,CA,GA, Hubby from Hawaii
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Cool Thanks you guys for the info.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajbrown View Post
They used the term 'open network' which is an issue you must consider. You are now on a public network potentially not protected by an external firewall. All protection must be done by your local firewall on your PC.

Any other computer on that network (and potentially beyond) can initiate a connection to you. It will be up to your local firewall to reject it. So before connecting to any public network, make sure your operating system is patched and the firewall is ON and setup to reject inbound connections.

Where else is a public network that people do not think of? Your Comcast cable modem. If you connect directly to the modem you are on the Internet and folks can and will find your computer. I always install a router (FW) between my computer(s) and the cable modem. Hopefully the router-FW is secure
I did not know that. I am connected to a comcast modem as we type.

I am like many I am sure only moderatly computer literate. I use excel for just about everything and no other aplications except tax software.
I am considering a design software for working on my stained glass but it isn't cheap and I am afraid after I get it I will not be smart enough to use it and end up back with pencil and transfer paper.