santner Posted August 22, 2004 Report Share Posted August 22, 2004 I finally ordered DSL :D and I should be totally 'connected' by next Friday. This is my network card: ADM983 Linksys EtherFast 10/100 and from google searching and the fact that it is recognized it seems to be linux compatible. The modem from sbc is made by 2wire and since it is external, I am assuming that this is also compatible. On to my question. I searched freshmeat with the keyword 'firewall'' and I received over 300 hits. I am a DSL/firewall newbie and have some important questions. First of all, what is the best software firewall (I am too poor right now to buy a hardware one)? Which one do you guys use? Also, which ports do I need to make sure that are absolutely turned off? And if I leave a port open, what additional steps do I need to take to make that open port as secure as possible? Or does the software take care of that? Finally, does the software also monitor and track important occurances so that I could tell if someone was up to something? I am a bit paranoid because I have always used dial up before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devries Posted August 22, 2004 Report Share Posted August 22, 2004 Most of the configuring has been done for you by Mandrake. Just set the security level to 'normal' and you have pretty good protection. If you're to poor to buy a router maybe you should consider converting an old PC (any one will do) Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiedra Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 I use guarddog personally. It's very user friendly. Don't need to know ports. Just put in which things you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ac_dispatcher Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 I use a separate computer that runs Coyote Linux... http://mandrakeusers.org/index.php?showtopic=14472 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 like devries said, for a home computer, the default setting is probably enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 Absolutely get a hardware router, either a unit or an old computer. You really should use to layers, the router and then the desktop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 The best firewall is the one that does what you want :D I know it sounds like a getout but inthis case its true. All Linux firewalls are based on IPTABLES and most HW ones are too... in fact a few are in hot water for using GPL SW without repecting the terms! The real key is configuration which can be tricky... functionally they are much the same.. A very low end PC (486) is great for firewalling and has more than enough power! adding 2x NIC (Network interface cards) is the best way... then its up to you.... and for once you can be swayed by the screenshots becuase thats basically what your dealing with... as a front end to IP tables. This is the same if its on the same PC or not and you can even run a virtual PC (like VMware) for this... but the absolute best IMHO is just an old 486 or pentium with 2x NIC's and your choice of mini firewall distro... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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