Re: [gentoo-user] Re: DSL and AT&T. About time.

[Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com>]

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On Saturday 08 August 2009, Grant Edwards wrote:
> On 2009-08-08, Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de> wrote:
> > On 08/08/2009 05:29 AM, Dale wrote:
> >> I had thought about picking up a Linksys router and putting it
> >> between my desktop and the modem.
> >
> > Your modem is probably a router anyway.

+1

I don't think I have seen a proper adsl modem for years now.  99% of them are 
modem+router combos or half-bridged routers.

> Almost certainly (at least in the US).  DSL modems with
> Ethernet interfaces almost always are routers/firewalls (and
> have been since way back when).  It used to be common for Cable
> modems to be bridges, but that seems to be getting less
> common.

Yes, most cable so called modems are half-bridged routers.

> > Furthermore, right now you're accessing the internet without
> > any form of protection anyway.  If you're with dial-up, that
> > means you're connected directly to the internet.  And don't
> > forget this is Linux, not Windows.
> >
> > Even without a firewall, remote break-in is highly improbable,
> > especially since you're not running any Apache or MySQL
> > servers on your machine (at least I assume you don't.)
>
> That's what I thought back when I was using dialup on a Linux
> box that didn't have any servers running.  Then one day I got
> root-kitted.
>
> IMO, safely attaching a Linux machine directly to the Internet
> takes a fair bit of skill and lot of diligence.  Safely
> attaching a Windows machine directly to the Internet is at
> least an order of magnitude more difficult.

I think that both are exactly the same in terms of measures that need apply.  
A firewall and practicing safe-hex.

Of course the Linux machine has the added benefit that it should not be 
opening or listening on all sort of ports that you did not ask it to and as a 
rule in Linux you are not running a desktop and its applications logged in as 
root, but the basic premise of using a firewall is the same.

-- 
Regards,
Mick

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