Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ?

["Michael Fritscher" <michael () fritscher net>]

Hi Steve,

I hope you haven't caused a storm with aggressive mails here^^
This maillinglist is more about now detected holes in soft- and hardware...

First, you certainly mean not a normal router (which is on most cases 100%
transparent in both directions), but a NAT-router.

What the NAT blocks (in most cases) are incomings connections - But
expecially since XP SP2 this is a very seldom used way to attack
computers.
Nowadays, most bad software use holes in apps - browser, office, flash and
so on which use outgoing connections - which are NOT blocked by a
NAT-router.
So, yes, a bot connectiong to a botnet could be installed if Firefox or a
plugin like Flash, Java, Quicktime and so on has a hole and you browse on
a "bad" site.

Btw, please read about NAT, routing, current bad software etc in the
internet - this will help you understanding the concerns.

Sincerly,
Michael



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