I'm not really qualified to comment as I'm just starting to learn in this area. Being a relatively new user of a cable modem service, I started feeling particularly vulnerable as I'm now connected to the Internet 24x7.
I'm halfway thru my own 30 day evaluation of the ConSeal product. I tried the other popular product (@Guard) already, but found it too complicated when trying to set up rules. I like ConSeal so far because the rulesets (at least for me) seem to be easier to define. Their logging of connection attempts by others is also very straightforward and informative. Obviously, there is much to learn, as any tool is only as good as the user using it. You have to know a little bit about networking and tcp/ip to set rules intelligently, if you don't you either leave the doors wide open or you close them off so tight that you create problems for yourself like disallowing your own connections to game servers, ICQ, etc.
I am currently subscribed to the @Home security discussions newsgroup and there are many other security related newsgroups out there as well. These are a good place to lurk and learn as well as to ask newbie questions.
I don't have personal experience with PC Anywhere, but it was one product mentioned more than once in the @Home newsgroup as leaving one open to attacks. Apparently when running it is essentially broadcasting its presence on the Internet looking for other PC AnyWhere hosts to connect to, making it a popular target. I wouldn't recommend removing it from one's machine, after all it's a good piece of software, but like anything else needs to be used with intelligence and awareness of its capabilities. |
