Full Disclosure mailing list archives
Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ?
From: Rohit Patnaik <quanticle () gmail com>
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:10:23 -0500
No, I would not consider your father's box to be safe. There are enough drive-by-download attacks and e-mail scams to make infection a very real possibility even if the automated worm route is blocked by a NAT router. However, if you installed SP2 with default settings, it probably enabled the auto-update functionality in Windows. Similarly, recent versions of Firefox have a similar auto-update feature. So, even if you don't think the box is being updated, it might still be receiving security patches. --Rohit Patnaik Steven Anders wrote:
I received great responses and am very grateful to the help from community of this list. Thank you. I have a dumb question: Is a Windows box behind a router safe ? It is my father's PC and the Windows OS was not updated regularly. The Windows box was connected through wire (RJ45) to the router. The router is then connected to the DSL modem. The Windows Box has SP2 installed and the default Windows firewall enabled - and I think was last updated from Windows Update on in 2008. It has AVG anti virus. The PC was never moved anywhere and is always behind the router. The router has default settings, which I believe has no ports open. He never installed any applications or downloads anything off the net - mainly it is used for emails and general web browsing (using Firefox, not IE). I informed him to use Firefox, since IE has so many security issues. My questions are: 1. There are many exploits and vulnerabilities of Windows, but I was wondering if outdated Windows box behind router generally safe ? Since, the Windows box was not updated with the latest updates. I have always thought that having a computer behind the router (since router has firewall) is generally safe, but I would love to hear insights or thoughts. 2. If a Windows box is behind a router, could a botnet be installed to it ? Assuming, the end user does not install/download any applications from the Internet and always use Firefox. Thank you all in advance. steve ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/
_______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/
Current thread:
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ?, (continued)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? Dave (Sep 22)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? vulcanius (Sep 22)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? G. D. Fuego (Sep 22)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? john s (Sep 22)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? G. D. Fuego (Sep 22)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? john s (Sep 22)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? john s (Sep 22)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? Steven Anders (Sep 22)
- Re: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ? Camilo Uribe (Sep 23)