70Guarding against intrusion attempts
How Norton Personal Firewall protects against network attacksNorton Personal Firewall monitors communicationsWhen Norton Personal Firewall is active, it monitors communications among your computer and other computers on the Internet. It also protects your computer from such common security problems as:
Improper connection | Warns you of any connection attempts from other |
attempts | computers and attempts by programs on your computer |
| to connect to other computers |
Trojan horses | Notifies you when your computer encounters |
| destructive programs that are disguised as something |
| useful |
Security and privacy | Monitors all Java applets and ActiveX controls and lets |
incursions by malicious | you choose whether to run or block the program |
Web content |
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Port scans | Cloaks inactive ports on your computer and detects port |
| scans |
Intrusions | Detects and blocks malicious traffic and attempts by |
| outside users to attack your computer |
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You can control the level of protection that Norton Personal Firewall provides by using the Security Level slider. You can also control how Norton Personal Firewall reacts to improper connection attempts, Trojan horses, and malicious Web content.
Intrusion Detection scans each packet that enters and exits your computer for attack signatures, arrangements of information that identify an attacker’s attempt to exploit a known operating system or program vulnerability.
Norton Personal Firewall protects your computer against most common Internet attacks, including the following.
Bonk | An attack on the Microsoft TCP/IP stack that can crash the |
| attacked computer |
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RDS_Shell | A method of exploiting the Remote Data Services component |
| of the Microsoft Data Access Components that lets a remote |
| attacker run commands with system privileges |
WinNuke | An exploit that can use NetBIOS to crash older Windows |
| computers |
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