possible t0 have a secure windowze

[stflook]

As long as Windows is as popular as it is now, it will always be the target of hackers.

[ac1dsp3ctrum]

thats true..... which in your opinion would you say to be the most secure version of windowze...... i know ME and x are out...... but of the remainig versions.... which is the best for a web server

[stflook]

I think Windows 2000 would be the best Windows operating system for a web server, but NT would be about the same. If you're serious about this web server thing, and you seem to be, I think you should consider using Red Hat Linux.

[ac1dsp3ctrum]

linux..... i would expect OpenBsd or BSD to be the most secure...... becus *nix gets hacked almost everyd ay.... but u barely hear about BSD being hacked.. or is it just underpublicized?

[stflook]

I think it's probably just not publicized, but I could be wrong. I don't know anything about BSD, so I couldn't tell you anything about its security. The reason for my opinion is that Linux is by far the favorite OS for web hosting, and thousands of webmasters can't all be wrong. I know I said that the most popular operating systems are the most easily hacked because of their popularity. I will also admit that any good web hacker would know Linux and Unix. But I think you will have a hard time finding ANY hacker that can't hack windows. Also, that's what firewalls are for. You should never rely solely on the operating system for your security.

[Terr]

Now, I had a long arguement with pwaring about this...

Define 'Hack windows'. I'll be the first to admit that Win9x has terrible local security, but that's mainly because it was designed for home use, where you usually have adequate physical local security, it's functioning in a physical trusted environment. I don't count the local stuff against Windows, because with an intruder with local access to a computer, most of the battle is lost already.

By "Hack windows" do you mean: "Trick the user into running a this nifty NetBusServer.exe program."? Or "Look for someone who forgot to set a password on his new share."?

[ac1dsp3ctrum]

Well in that case.... Which is the best firewall.... I know that ZoneAlarm is a favorite...... But are there any other good firewalls

[Ennis]

Lets put it simply, if you were a cracker and you find 3 sites you want to crack.

Each runs on the following, 1. is a running on Windows 2. is running on Unix 3. is running on FreeBSD, which would you try and which would you skip.

I realise a lot more comes into play [which OS version etc.] but you get the jist.

[ac1dsp3ctrum]

thats true... windows and *nix are better known.. so they would try for the most common ones

[stflook]

Tiny is another good firewall. I have used both Tiny and ZoneAlarm, and loved them both. Plus, if you didn't already know, both are freeware, so you won't have to pay anything. You can search for both of them at www.download.com