Broadband Advice

[rinkytink]

I am thinking of getting a broadband internet connection at home. I know that with broadband one has a dedicated phone line set up just for internet access and that one is permanently connected to the internet. I believe also that you keep the same IP address for this connection. Does anyone know if there are any extra security implications for this kind of connection ? Will this make my PC more open to hackers/virus attacks ? Would it be easier for a repeated 'attacker' to find my PC with a permanent IP address, as opposed to a dial up connection where the IP changes each time I connect ? I know that it is unlikely for someone to want to single out my PC but there are some pretty malicious internet users out there. I run Zone Alarm pro at present - will this keep me safe ? Any advice / info appreciated. Thanks.

[Metaphysical]

I had the same worries when I was thinking of changing over to broadband. I was assured that it was extremely unlikely that anyone would single out my PC, but a decent Firewall protection would help. As for viruses, a decent Virus checker would be good (I use Norton Anti-Virus and Norton Firewall). I have never had any problems and have been on broadband for over 7 months. But be aware that if there is a determined hacker out there they will be able to get to your PC regardless of Firewalls and other security. 8-)

[lisaj]

To follow on from Metaphysical : hackers, or at least the kind you should be worrying about, tend not to 'target' your machine per se. Indeed, their only real objective where your machine is concerned is to take control of it so it can be used to launch DDoS attacks against much larger victims. They will passively port-scan whole subnets (blocks of addresses), and anything interesting will pop up in their logs. For instance, say your machine was a Windows box, that for some reason was configured so that port 139 was accessible through its public IP address: the hacker would have a note of this, and would almost certainly return to do some more poking. The other obvious example is that of spammers scanning networks for open mail relays, however as a domestic user you're unlikely to be running one. Contrary to popular belief, Zone Alarm is not a particularly good firewall product, but then no software products really are. It comes down to balancing economics against what you need to protect: The only real solution if you're paranoid is a cheap hardware firewall/router, and you'd be connected through this, though it'll cost you about �100. As Metaphysical states though, network security is never totally secure - it will just make you seem less attractive compared to the thousands of insecure computers.

[Soupdragon]

I personally have a Cable Modem which does'nt use a phone line,it just plugs into an ethernet card,and does'nt need to have a static ip. I use Blackice Defender as a firewall which seems to protect against most hacks,but as the other guys say if someone really wants to get into your pc they will. You will probably find that most of the hits your firewall will get are just scanners and port probes.