Protection Levels
3
Protection Levels
Introduction Protection levels are pre-designed sets of security settings developed for different types of
Web use. You can choose to have Desktop Protector block all communications with your
system, some communications with your system, or no communications with your
system. You can change protection levels at any time.
How protection
levels work
Protection levels modify your firewall by closing some of the software links, or ports, that
your system uses to receive communications from other computers. The more restrictive
the protection level, the more ports are blocked.
Protection level
definitions
Paranoid: Desktop Protector blocks all unsolicited inbound traffic. Very restrictive, but
useful if your system faces frequent or repeated attacks. This setting may restrict some
Web browsing and interactive content.
Nervous: Desktop Protector blocks all unsolicited inbound traffic except for some
interactive content on Web sites (such as streaming media and other application-specific
uses of the Internet). Preferable if you are experiencing frequent intrusions.
Cautious: Desktop Protector blocks unsolicited network traffic that accesses operating
system and networking services. Good for regular use of the Internet.
Trusti ng: All ports are open and unblocked and all inboun d traffic is allowed. Acceptable
if you have a minimal threat of intrusions. This is the default protection level setting. If
your local agent is not centrally controlled by ICEcap Manager, you should consider
customizing your protection level immediately after installing Desktop Protector.
How protection
levels affect
applications
This table shows how the protection levels affect some representative applications:
Note: To use an application that is blocked under a selected protection level, use the
Advanced Firewall Settings feature to open the ports the application uses. For more
information on opening ports, see “Blocking Intrusions” on page 37.
Level Blocked Configurable Not Blocked
Paranoid IRC file transfer (DCC)
NetMeeting
PC Anywhere
ICQ
Quake (II/III)
Internet Phone
Net2Phone
FTP file transfers
Sending/receiving email
Real Audio
IRC Chat
Nervous IRC file transfer (DCC)
NetMeeting
ICQ
Internet Phone
Net2Phone
All of the above, plus PC
Anywhere, Quake (II,III)
Cautious Unsolicited traffic that
accesses operating
system and networking
services
None All of the above, plus IRC
file transfer (DCC)
NetMeeting
Trusting None None All inbound traffic