I ran a system security scan at https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll and I was told I have a small number of open ports. But... I just don't know how to close/stealth them, and I didn't find any information about it either. I'm using Sygate Personal Firewall. The ports were 80, 113 and 443. Should I be concerned? What should I do? Can these be caused by using IRC or establishing a secure connection? I had to establish a secure connection with the website that was hosting the test. Another problem: my firewall is giving me notifications about preventing "application hijacking". However to me it seems that it is actually preventing my avast! antivirus from updating itself. But I don't know how to make the firewall allow this. No dialog box pops up.
Port 80 is http- the web Port 443 is https- secure sockets layer (the secure connection you were referring to.) Port 113 – authentication service You shouldn’t be concerned. I can’t help you too much with Sygate because I have never used it. I went to pc world and read that you can adjust Sygate settings for trusted ip addresses. You have to set Sygate to trust the ip address of Avast. Then you get get your updates. I would read the help file to find out how to do this. I’ve read the review on Sygate and it states that this firewall is not for begginers. Here is the summary of the review by the Top 10 review inc. “Summary: Sygate Personal Firewall Pro may be too difficult for beginners. Learning to operate Sygate Personal Firewall Pro properly takes time and work. For example, when Sygate Personal Firewall Pro sends you a message about blocking a particular website or application, the program doesn’t provide any detailed information about the process being blocked. Because of this, it’s difficult for beginners to make the right decision.”
Yeah, probably it's rather difficult for beginners. It's just that I don't think I have much alternatives. ZoneAlarm wouldn't work on my computer, Outpost's wizard mode doesn't work, I don't trust the XP firewall too much, and Sygate is the only other free firewall that I know. But if anyone has a suggestion for another decent free firewall, please tell me. I'll try to find a way to make some settings for those trusted IP:s. Thanks for your help!
I wish I could help you more but I haven’t tested any free software firewalls. You are right not to trust xp’s built in firewall because it only blocks inbound traffic not outbound. Maybe someone at afterdawn can recommend a free firewall that they have tested. Good luck.
