Re: firewall/router question
WPA has nothing to do with this, WPA being the encryption used for the
wireless link between your system(s) and the router. What is a factor is
that the router is no doubt using NAT, Network Address Translation. What
this means is that the router, facing the internet is using one IP
(network address) whereas on the private side it is using another, usually
in the range 192.168.x.x, with your connected systems also using addresses
in the private 192.168.x.x range. External traffic hits the router and is
only routed to your internal PC(s) when the incoming packets are in
response to requests you have made (assuming you aren't running a server).
In other words all the nasties are knocking at the door of the router and
going no where.
It is for this reason that many of us have long recommended the use of a
router even if the user only has the one system. Routers with NAT are
invariably better than most firewalls at blocking intrusions and at the
same time relieve the load on the local system. Not that running a
firewall on your system doesn't have benefits as it allows you some
control over what goes _out_ rather than comes in however when it comes to
nasties, if they are stopped on the way out this means you are already
compromised, perhaps as a result of opening an attachment in an e-mail or
visiting a malicious web site. However not everything wanting to call home
is necessarily malicious, sometimes simply unwanted, such as happens with
many legitimate applications and operating systems.
--
Mike Maltby
mike.maltby@gmail.com
richard <rmk@wonderland.net> wrote:
> Ever since I set up a wireless router, Zone Alarm has not recorded one
> attempted intrusion. Prior to the router, there were usually dozens.
> Is the router's security/encryption (WPA) blocking the intrusions
> before they get to Zone Alarm??
>
> tia