What's with all these hackers and my computer??!!

[ZeldaFan001]

My firewall is working overtime. Hackers are repeatedly attempting to hack my computer. Two days ago, two attempted attacks called "Newtear" tries to attack, yesterday one "SYN Port Scan" and today another one just a few minutes ago! Considering my computer has never been hacked before, this is frightening me. Just thought I would let out some steam.

If you don't have a firewall, I suggest you get one! Mcafee is the one I have, and it seems to be working well.

BTW, does anyone know what a "SYN Port Scan" hacker attack is? I can't seem to find any info on it.

[Thunderbird]

McAfee firewall? BLECH

SYN packets are a special type of packet. They are used to establish a connection between two machines (and are used a lot, obviously ;)).

For anyone on broadband, stuff like this is a fact of life. They are probably just scanning for vulnerable computers.

[Jigglysaint]

FIREWALL!

?, I guess I need more magic power...

[ZeldaFan001]

But I have a 56K modem, not broadband.

[cyberkitten]

i highly recommend zonealarm for anyone who doesn't have one or is unsatisfied with their current one. it's free for home use and relatively user friendly.
http://www.zonelabs.com

[AtmaWeapon]

I think my university has some kind of firewall; I tried the things at grc.com and they said all my ports were stealth.

[fatcatfan]

you're likely behind NAT at your university. It's a very basic form of firewall. Essentially only connections which originate from your computer are allowed to communicate with your computer, unless the NAT has a specific command to send certain types of connections to you (port forwarding).

And yes, zonealarm is the best free software firewall available.

SYN scan? I'm trying to remember. That's either a denial of service attempt directed at you, or an attempt to use your computer as a Reflected DoS attack on someone else. Or it may just be a scan preliminary to that sort of attack, to see if you're vulnerable.

[gdorf]

Dude, "hackers" aren't out to get you. Don't worry about it. Syn packets aren't gonna hurt you, and just because you've got a few hits on your firewall doesn't mean your being hacked.

Seriously, you'll be fine. chill.

[vegeta1215]

Need security? Use Linux ;)

My Dad has Zonealarm on his computer. It's pretty nice cause it prevents incoming attacks, and also lets you manage what software on your computer connects to the internet. This is handy in preventing trojen programs from contacting the outside world. The only thing I didn't like was on my Dad's system, with Windows 2000, when you change you current user, it has to go through and unload and reload Zonealarm each time. But, that's not Zonealarms fault, thats Windows 2000 for being retarded.

[MottZilla]

I've never had a problem. I found ZoneAlarm to be too annoying. And the idea of anyone really dedicating the time to try to fuck with you is just out there. As long as you don't have a static IP you are cool.

[Cyclone]

All your computer are belong to us. You are on the path to Netlessness. :evil:

Seriously, I don't think I've been hacked. However, I had the strange occurrence of the standard shut-down screen on my computer...said screen is not part of my shut-down procedure, and came shortly after I hit the Internet...I wonder if someone flashed a command at me to enter shutdown mode. :shrug:

Cyclone