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Linux Firewall?

Steve
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Registered: ‎13-07-2009

Linux Firewall?

hi,
  i have got my linux working really well and ive totally shrunk my xp now,enjoying the freedom of no antivrus and having to not clean registry etc to try keep it clean and healthy.
However i do want a bit of protection for the browser so i added NO SCRIPT as that was suggested to me,now i also have newly put on the firestarter too and it says its running,when i click my connection on the bottom screen at the desktop it says my connection as NON SECURE?is this something to be concerned about?also is anyone here using firestarter?do i need to configure it in any way or is that it doing its job?thanks for the replies in advance,much appreciated
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
16 REPLIES 16
HairyMcbiker
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Re: Linux Firewall?

I don't personally bother to firewall my Linux box's. Out of the box there is NOTHING open for hackers to attack, if you try going to shields up website and testing you will see that,
I have no script & adblock plus running on firefox and that stops most of the malware that trys to attack. Alot of it targets IE & M$ anyway so FF is immune to those attacks by default.
dvorak
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Re: Linux Firewall?

Hmm shields up will be testing your router firewall not your pc one.
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HairyMcbiker
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Re: Linux Firewall?

Only if you have a router, and I remember him mentioning he just got his modem working in Linux. And as long as your routers firewall is working ...

BTW this is sent using a 3 3G Broadband dongle, which is effectively a modem and I am not using any firewall on my EEEUbuntu installation on my EEE 702.
Steve
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Registered: ‎13-07-2009

Re: Linux Firewall?

Yeah i was thinking of geting that ad block,also i have tested on shields up and im in full stealth,however out of pure curiosity and went and tested it on xp and xp showed same results as linux,full stealth
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MisterW
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Re: Linux Firewall?

I certainly use ufw ( or gufw to make it easy ) on my Ubuntu netbook to deny all incoming connections when I'm using my 3G dongle. As far as I can see you're on a network with lots of other people on mobile BB and so a basic firewall is probably a good idea.

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HairyMcbiker
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Re: Linux Firewall?

Just done a test and although I am not stealthed, all ports are closed, so they can see that I have pc on but not access it, and since I don't have sql or apache running  Cheesy there is nothing for them to attack.
Turned on ufw (it was installed just not enabled) and now it shows as stealthed.
Steve
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Registered: ‎13-07-2009

Re: Linux Firewall?

Went and got ad block plus and going to take off the firestarter and just use gufw,do i need to configure it in any way or just enable it?
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Not applicable

Re: Linux Firewall?

I used the Mint firewall when I had the distro installed. Currently using Ubuntu and also have installed Firestarter. It's the first thing that I have done after installation although I understand that many people don't bother.
It's no trouble to set it up and it has no effect on the system resources (AFAIK) so it's a no-brainer really. Also, when I read up how to initiate it in Ubuntu help it was under 'Keep Your Computer Safe' so I took that as Linux approval.
I haven't gone into the fine details of it in respect of configuration so would be interested to know if there is anything I should do other than leave it in its default state - it is obviously doing its job. Shields Up! was all OK.
*Just checked in Help and it says UFW is for more advanced users. I looked at it briefly - seems a bit complicated. Might it be best to stick to Firestarter for time being?
Steve
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Re: Linux Firewall?

Hey there poppy, according to shields up my pc does not even exist,full stealth mode,so im thinking in being too cautious,i will just gufw and that should be enough,its enabled so its doing something lol. Smiley
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MisterW
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Re: Linux Firewall?

Quote
*Just checked in Help and it says UFW is for more advanced users. I looked at it briefly - seems a bit complicated. Might it be best to stick to Firestarter for time being?

@poppy, if you're happy with Firestarter then stick with it. Both ufw(& its gui, gufw) and Firestarter are front ends to configure 'iptables' which is the built-in network filtering engine in Linux.

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VileReynard
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Re: Linux Firewall?

Is iptables automatically enabled - unless disabled?
AFAIK Firestarter only scans for Windows viruses?

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HairyMcbiker
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Re: Linux Firewall?

IPTables are how Linux talks to the network by default. Normally they are open for outgoing traffic and closed for incoming traffic. There are (thick) books written on how to use them. You can do anything firewall related using them and as granular as you like, disable one protocol on one machine at a certain time etc, to block all traffic at certain times/all the time. I don't think you can disable them.
and from the help page for firestarter it doesn't appear to do any virus scanning, you would need at least clam-av to do that.
Denzil
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Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: Linux Firewall?

Ubuntu has all its ports closed by default, so it doesn't really need a firewall as well.
HairyMcbiker
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Registered: ‎16-02-2009

Re: Linux Firewall?

Denzil, check my reply #1, that was what I said as well. A firewall isn't normally needed, and I don't use one on this EEE.