Hacker-proofing

[DaFees]

Well, hello, I'm here with a bit of an important question.

Ok I know that if I want to stop viruses, I use AVG Antivirus software
I know that if I want to stop ad-aware I use Lavasoft's Ad-aware SE Personal Edition
Lastly, I know that if I want to stop spyware, I use spybot S&D,

Now, that's good to stop the everyday foe, that pops up on your machine, but what's to stop that not so common everyday, object, such as a hacker. I mean what's the best preventive tools to stop a hacker.

Now firstly I want to know in general for most ocmputers that are just connected directly to the internet, then secondly I want to know if I need to do anything extra if the ocmputers are connected via a router?

So can somebody out there help me?

 

[IGotTheMondays]

The first thing I would do is not use the Windows XP firewall. It protects you somewhat but could have more features. There are many firewalls that are good and where they differ is mainly on the additional features that come with them.

Here are some firewall brands to look at...
Zone Alarm
BlackICE
Norton
Kaspersky

 

[DaFees]

Well I've heard a lot of people use Zone-Alarm so I shall check into that, now I myself, and running on a router, I share the internet with my dad, so is there anything important to know about the router?

 

[IGotTheMondays]

Well I've heard a lot of people use Zone-Alarm so I shall check into that, now I myself, and running on a router, I share the internet with my dad, so is there anything important to know about the router?

You can check the router and see if it has any security features built in that may be useful. Also, check to make sure that if you have wireless it is secured and not free for anyone to use. Other than that I think you are set.

 

[sturm]

AD-aware and spybot only remove the stuff AFTER its infected your computer. The best prevention for this is safe surfing. no porn pages, watch your links you click on, Downloading questionable files . etc...


A router that will block ports/firewall is your best option. Hackers get in by open ports or thru installing programs on your computer thru bad links/web pages.
Directly connected computers are the most dangerous to have. Even if you only have 1 computer its a good idea to use a router.

 

[JesterX]

A router with SPI (stateful packet inspection) will help a lot.
I personally use Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall on my XP machines. It does a good job and the Host Intrusion Prevention System (blocks buffer overflow and code injection) works as advertised.