an internet cafe` problem

Hello every one
Sorry if the thread was over there some where and I didn’t fine it
Here is my problem …
I manage an internet café and I have P3 desktop PCs with 128 RAM … XP operating system …
I have a satellite connection for my internet … my ISP cut off my internet and force my to pay forfeit every time he thinks that I have a viruses or anything wrong on my system … there for I must have a good firewall with a good security on my PCs especially when I have a clients that don't take care of the PCs …
I have Norton internet security and it doing well but the problem that Norton takes all the RAM and keep the PC freezing all the time and the clients don’t like that for sure so I have to find another solution … zone alarm with web filtering is good but the client can turn it off any time (I don’t need that ) the firewall must be on all the time
So what I really need is
1- a way to make the zone alarm working all the time and cant be turned off (only with password).
2- A free web filtering software that can make me able to block all of the porno … adult site. .etc
Thx all and sorry if I am not really clear

Hey Hey,

Since you are looking at several PCs sharing a connection, I think you're best bet would be to setup filtering before the PCs are even reached, eliminate the need for a firewall on the public PCs. A small linux box before the switch that connects the PCs would definately do the trick, it'd be a lot more secure and a lot easier to manage. IPCop seems to be fairly popular for this use, and I know there are other speciality Linux distrobutions that AO users use and will prolly mention to you. Sys Admin Magazine had a nice article about using IPCop to secure intranets (http://www.samag.com/documents/s=902...402a/0402a.htm)


As far as your AV goes... while Norton does use a good chunk of memory, I'd say it's not your main problem. The problem is that you are running XP on PCs with 128MB of RAM, and you probably have clients doing somewhat intensive operations (such as gaming)... I'd suggest changing your OS to Win2K pro, or upgrading the RAM in those machines to at least 256MB.. You should notice that Norton runs much better after that.

Peace,
HT

Dear HTRegz thx for your reply
i have some PCs with 256 RAm but the majority have 128 and i still have that problem ...
the owner of the place will not pay a cent for every thing so i have to find a free softwares for firewall and web filtering ....
thx for your reply

But wimmaster,

As HTRegz said just get a small linux box to do the filtering with, it doesnt have to be costly at all and im sure you could pick up a toaster more than suitable for the job for a small price.

And in my opinion, paying a small price is better than losing a lot because of lack of service

128MB is the minimum reccomended for XP

See : http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...n/sysreqs.mspx

If you are running any software with any power you will need more.

If you aren't familiar with linux, try it almost pain free by booting a knoppix cd - Check this out.

www.knoppix.org

Steve

um...if you are looking for a free good firewall that can be password protected so that your clients cant turn them off then i would say you should download Kerio, go to www.download.com and searh kerio, its a 30 day trial...for the pro version, but the firewall is free, the pro version only include things such as ad-blockers, nothin much, but the firewall is great, and can be password protected, hope that helps:D

Your computers should have more RAM...
XP loves memory and actually runs in memory...
More memory will inprove the performance of the computers
min 512

As previously suggested set up a box as a firewall\gateway..2 NICs...let that do your filtering etc and this will also free up resources on your end machines.

Also you can then setup monitoring\logging on the firewall\gateway.

HTHs
MLF

You seem to be in a real dilemma here. You need to make your system harder, more secure and faster without spending any money. Well luckily for you their is lunix and wonderful programmers who don't see a dang red cent for their work but get contentment from seeing people learn from and reuse their proggies.

I would give the same advice as those prior or to me drop linux box and run it as your gateway. I would also run Keiro Firewall (free) on the gateway.

Also with XP and 128mb or even 256mb you are asking for insane slowdowns. However you drop the XP install and load up a 2000 (you won't infringe on your licensing either since 2000 and XP are running on the same licensing now).

Link to Keiro Firewall:
http://www.kerio.com/us/beta_section.html

Overview of Linux Dists:
http://www.linuxiso.org/

There you go hope this helps you.

- MilitantEidolon

thx guys but i have 1 more problem i need a free web filtering software to block the porn sites ... sex sites ... etc and do u think that norton antiviruse with zone alarm or any other firewall is enough for protection ... by the way here in iraq we have a very small knowledge in *nix and i dont have a geatway only only satellite receiver and hop with 13 IP thats all
thx for your reply

I am not sure exactly what you are looking for a but you can find alot of freeware or shareware at http://www.snapfiles.com/ it is a good resource to bookmark.

Also Kerio can work on a Windows Based environment. So you can setup a firewall on your server computer (that is assuming you have a server computer).


- MilitantEidolon

Most content blocker out there make you pay for them but there is a way you can do it with a program called Proxomitron. All it is is a proxy but it allows you to write your own filters. An example of the type of blocking you want (sex sites, porn, etc...) could be:

Quote:

---

Name = "Keyword content blocker"
Active = TRUE
Multi = TRUE
Limit = 200
Match = "(<html>|<head>)*(sex|****|pussy|dick)*"
Replace = "<html><head><title>Forbidden</title></head>"
"<body>"
"<h3>Web site request blocked.</h3>"
"</body></html>\r\n\k"

---

I found this filter here and just changed the keywords a bit. To really make this effective you are going to have to add quite a few more keywords to that list to block the traffic. I know that this will not be 100% effective but it will help, the program is also not being updated anymore, but you can download it at these sites:

http://www.computercops.biz/postt24306.html
http://duke.usask.ca/~macphed/prox/

I hope this helps.

Quote:

---

Originally posted here by MilitantEidolon
Well luckily for you their is lunix and wonderful programmers who don't see a dang red cent for their work but get contentment from seeing people learn from and reuse their proggies.

---

This isn't quite accurate. The core kernel developers as well as the core developers for several major projects do indeed see several red cents for their work. That is not the reason they do the work, but it's not as if they are homeless and hungry because of writing Open Sourced software.

Quote:

---

This isn't quite accurate. The core kernel developers as well as the core developers for several major projects do indeed see several red cents for their work. That is not the reason they do the work, but it's not as if they are homeless and hungry because of writing Open Sourced software.

---

I Didn't mean it strictly linux I meant open source programmers in general. You are right, there are alot of open source programmers that do get paid good. However there are also a large amount that do not. I know that my brother and his buddies spent 2 years developing a web tracking program and left it open-source. They published it and everyone hopped on board taking and changing it and my brother and his buddies never got a penny however they were content with see their software at work.

- MilitantEidolon

Your best bet is certainly to use a centralised firewall solution.

Ideally, a transparent proxy with content filtering will stop undesirable requests - it can easily be set to block worm-related traffic (and thus your ISP should never see it even if malware gets inside), but more importantly, you will be able to set any rules you want on it. Non-web track can be blocked at the gateway as you see fit. I'd recommend blocking all outgoing traffic except for certain types you want to allow (HTTPS perhaps)

IMHO, virus scanning is something best done on the desktop level, but you will need to invest in a reputable virus scanning program ideally with a central update server which lets you push updates to the workstations.

No user should be allowed administrator access - ensure that all machines are locked down, permissions-wise, and create a single user for all customers. Then have a script or something which nightly logs them off and wipes their profile, or if you can afford it, get a server based solution to totally re-image the machines.

Users who aren't administrators should not be able to disable the virus checker, and you should make sure the boxes are fully patched and remove (or just disconnect) all removable drives. If the machines have USB, be sure to prevent people from sneaking USB devices into the cafe.

Reserve a machine somewhere really near the desk for people who want to use removeable devices, they are less likely to try anything if they're right under your nose.

Slarty

I empathize with your situation but wasn't any of this even thought about BEFORE the business was started? Either you fooled the owner into believing something that wasn;t real or you got the wonderful job of fixing someone else's mess, and a big mess at that. Either way the owner WILL without a doubt have to fork over SOME type of money to fix it. Either by paying a c=onsultant or by buying a licensed product. There is no, if, and , or but's about it.

Quote:

---

Originally posted here by chsh
This isn't quite accurate. The core kernel developers as well as the core developers for several major projects do indeed see several red cents for their work. That is not the reason they do the work, but it's not as if they are homeless and hungry because of writing Open Sourced software.

---

Sometimes, that which is NOT said is more important than that which IS said, chsh.

Another linux suggestion with squid http://www.squid-cache.org/ as a proxy, you a can get several good filtering programs such as http://dansguardian.org/ that fit in with squid, and add blocking http://adzapper.sourceforge.net/ to save you bandwidth . All it takes is the cost of an old box and a bit of learning. squid with adzap is a joy to use and rock solid.

To add more to what chsh and Korp are talking about, I'd actually like to know the "percentage" so to speak of Open-Source programmer's that do get paid for their effort's and work to those that don't. Sure, there are donation's, sponsorships, etc but do they get paid well enough to live off of? But like I said, I'd want to know a little comparison of the two. It would be most interesting to me.

use clamwin as your antivirus. Its free, lightweight, and works great.

www.clamwin.com

Just to give you a heads up. the Clamwin does not have a "on-access real-time scanner". But you can setup scheduled scans.