protection...

[tupacboy]

i posted this in technical support... anyways... is there a way to protect your computer so that nobody can download to it?... meaning if they want to download anything... they would need a password or permission to do so... oh yeah this question is for win 98 or 2k...
thanks

[hapoo]

Always use a condo...ohh computers thats right. By what mode will you be sharing these files? Over a network? or FTP/HTTP etc?

[tupacboy]

a lan network of 40 comps... i don't want anyone downloading anything anymore without permission...

[OC]

Download "to" it? Do you mean you want to keep people from putting files on your computer (that's uploading, not downloading) or do you want to keep people from taking files FROM your computer? (that's downloading)

Either way, just use a Linksys or Netgear (or whatever you favorite brand is) DHCP server/router, the kind that lets you share your DSL/cable/ethernet internet connection. A determined hacker could maybe get his way in, but it'd be the best $140 worth of security you could buy. Oh, and check out https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 This is the Shields Up site. All this site could get fromm me was the IP address of my Linksys router. Everything else was completely invisible.

[tupacboy]

... i don't think i explained it properly... we have 40 computers hooked up to a T1 line... and basically i want people to stop downloading filez from the web and slowing down the game... the computers were set up to play games but we have problems with people downloading stuff and messing up the comps... so i figured the best solution is to have it impossible to download anything without a password... any suggestions?

[OC]

Oh. Gooooooot it. Now that we have that cleared up, I have no idea. Anyone? Anyone? Beuller??

(this could likely be done very easily with Linux, but I'm not a guru. yet.)

-o

[hapoo]

Originally posted by overclocked
Oh. Gooooooot it. Now that we have that cleared up, I have no idea. Anyone? Anyone? Beuller??

(this could likely be done very easily with Linux, but I'm not a guru. yet.)

-o


yes it can, all you need to do is set up masq., and block all the ports except for the gaming ports.

[tupacboy]

Originally posted by hapoo
yes it can, all you need to do is set up masq., and block all the ports except for the gaming ports. [/B]

umm... ok... i don't know how to do that...

[Jeffbx]

Are you running a firewall or proxy server of any kind? Should be able to block incoming connections easily with a firewall. If no, you'll probably want to set one up.

[tupacboy]

no firewall or proxy... how do i set one up? and how do they work?... thanks (sorry that i'm not that educated in the world of comps)

[Jeffbx]

Well, I guess the first question is... do you have a budget? A firewall can be pretty pricy - especially for 40 connections.

What kind of line are you running on? DSL, Cable, T1 - ?

[tupacboy]

money shouldn't be a problem... we're on a t1

[hapoo]

Originally posted by tupacboy
money shouldn't be a problem... we're on a t1


:hmm: prove it. gimme some :D

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by tupacboy
money shouldn't be a problem... we're on a t1

Beautiful! Then you're set. Now you have to decide how secure you want to be.

I'd recommend a hardware firewall - easier to set up & maintain, and you probably don't need the flexibility of a software FW.

At the low end, you can get an entry level 3Com OfficeConnect for about $1200 that will support up to 100 users.

Probably the biggest gun you'll want to consider is a Cisco Pix firewall for about $7-10k.

As an aside, the Sun Cobalt Velociraptor is one sweet looking box. Unfortunately, they're also in the $7-10k range.
http://www.cobalt.com/products/velociraptor/index.html

There are a ton of others to look at. If you're just gaming, I'd suggest sticking to the lower end of the spectrum.

Once you get one, you just put it between your T1 and your PCs, turn off the ports you don't want (probably http, https, telnet & FTP), and away you go.

[StonedWheat]

Or you could just disable file downloads under browser settings under an Administrative account.

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by StonedWheat
Or you could just disable file downloads under browser settings under an Administrative account.

True, but that won't block FTP programs from downloading.

[tupacboy]

hmmm... that seems like a better option considering that 99% percent of our users don't even know what ftp is! :)

[tupacboy]

:) found some weird program that let's you do whatever u want to the computer filez (even format the whole drive) but once u restart the comp... everything is back to normal... thanks everyone for your help!