Protecting Your Windows Environment from Hacks


A very good defense against hacking is to shield the network through which you connect a Windows computer to the Internet using a router/hub that has NAT (Network Address Translation). In a nutshell, this enables the router/hub to shield the computers connected to it from the Internet. Outside devices can see the router/hub's Internet address, but can't see the address of any computers connected to it. What can't be seen can't be attacked.

In the previous chapter, I assumed that the Mac on which you are running Windows was connected to a network and to the Internet. In this chapter, I'm going to assume that you've connected that Mac to the Internet via a hub or router that uses NAT to protect it and other devices on your network from attacks. For example, if you use an Apple AirPort Base Station to create your network, it is protected by NAT. (If you need more information about this topic, see my book Special Edition Using Mac OS X Tiger.)

You can also use a firewall, which controls the traffic that is allowed to reach a computer. (Technically speaking, NAT is a form of firewall.) The firewall blocks the kinds of network traffic that are most likely to be attacks.

There are also hubs/routers designed for home use that include firewalls, but home hubs/routers more commonly use NAT. Using a hardware firewall is beyond the scope of this book because it's unlikely you'll use a hardware firewall unless you are managing a corporation's or other organization's network.

Both Mac OS X and Windows XP include a software firewall that you can configure to protect the computer from hacks. To configure the Windows Firewall, perform the following steps:

1.

Start up the Mac in Windows.

2.

Choose Start menu, Control Panel.

3.

Open the Windows Firewall control panel (see Figure 4.1).

Figure 4.1. Turning the Windows Firewall on will lessen the chance that your Windows environment will be compromised by an Internet attack.


4.

Click the On radio button.

5.

Click OK. The firewall will become active.

In most cases, the default firewall settings will be fine. However, you can configure the firewall in more detail by using the more advanced options in the control panel. These are beyond the scope of this chapter, but the following list provides a quick overview:

  • Exceptions You can allow specific programs and services that might otherwise be blocked by the firewall to be allowed. To do this, use the Exceptions tab of the Windows Firewall control panel. You can add specific programs and network ports to the list of exceptions and then enable or disable those exceptions. When an exception is allowed, that service or port will be able to be used through the firewall.

  • Advanced Settings The Advanced tab of the Windows Firewall control panel enables you to configure a number of different aspects of the firewall. These include configuring the firewall for specific kinds of connections, managing a log of firewall activity, and configuring ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol).




Sleeping with the Enemy(c) Running Windows(r) on a Mac(r)
Sleeping with the Enemy(c) Running Windows(r) on a Mac(r)
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2007
Pages: 58

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