hello all

i have been doing alot of research recently on firewalls and ports...being a newbie myself to security...so heres some basic steps to securing your system

firstly install a firewall i recommend agnitum outpost.... but if your a total newbie to firewalls like i was i found zonealarm to be pretty much idiot proof and a good starting point easy to configure etc goto www.zonelabs.com for zonealarm (cant remeber exact address for agnitum just do a goggle)

i would also recommend diableing file sharing goto control panel ->network connections >choose connection-> right click-> then propties-> then at the top networking->uncheck file/printer sharing(maybe even uninstall it if your not gonna need it)

also goto a dos prompt ie c:

in win xp goto start-> run-> type cmd
in win 95/98 me goto msdos prompt

then type netstat -a

this will give you a list of all ports and what they are doing
ie listening ,connected etc

so u can see what program are connecting using what port

hopefully this is some help to you fellow security newbies

waterboy