Excellent, another topic of worldly interest on our LBC list. I suppose it
is possible for someone to remotely connect to your PC and gain access to
passwords although probably not quite in that manner. Usually the threat
will come from within your PC - first you would have to (unwittingly)
execute a program or a virus, and from that action, a program or a form of
spyware would need to get installed on your computer and then access the
Internet to send out information. And in that sense, such a scenario is not
uncommon at all.
I have used several firewall programs for incoming and outgoing Internet
traffic and the best one and free is ZoneAlarm. You can get the free
version at www.zonealarm.com and once you have it installed, it will notify
you of any programs that try to use your Internet connection. You can then
set ZoneAlarm to always give access to some programs, or to always ask, and
in some cases, you can put a permanent block on rogue programs. And you
will be surprised at how many programs you have that have installed spyware
to report back on some of your actions. ZoneAlarm is one of the most
important free downloads you can get on the Internet. Particularly if you
have a cable or DSL Internet connection - it will allow you to control the
connection and even block the Internet when you are not using it.
David Councill
67 BGT
72 B
At 06:19 PM 2/17/2004 -0500, mmorris@nemr.net wrote:
>We do most of our banking online, as well as other financial transactions.
>I've read that someone can remotely connect to your computer and steal your
>passwords. Is this true? If so, can a "firewall" protect you from this and
>if it can, what is the cheapest, easiest way to install one? Are certain
>brand names more reliable?
>With all the commotion about identity theft, I'd hate to be wiped out by
>some a**hole, online thief.
>Thank,
>Monte
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