ports!!!

[kill_bill_gates]

When I first posted a thread like this one months ago, it caused bad arguments. First, I am sorry for being so childish in my first thread about ports. Then I want to ask those questions again with a few different ones:

1. I suspect(no, I know) my MSN Messenger has been hacked. I can still login to gmail and passport.net but I can not log in to MSN Messenger. I'd like to know if somebody can use TFTP and MSN Messenger(he didn't even talked to me in MSN) to hack my MSN Messenger?
2.If so, are there certain ports TFTP use? Can they be detected and listened(code of freeware please...)? Can I refuse incoming data from the listened ports(code or freeware please...)?
3.My father told me MSN Messenger would have caused some security problems.
4.I don't want to use ZoneAlarm(it would interrupt me too much).
5.Can somebody teach me how this port stuff works?

[Hack]

Moved to network programming.

[MalcolmCarmen]

I'd suggest you just get a router to hide behind for about $20 or less (well, wired).

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you don't patch windows, probably for the same reason I don't. In this case, you MUST have a firewall of some sort, or you won't last long. XP is rife with vulnerabilities, you are protected from maybe half of them by your ISP blocking certain ports, but others still exist.

If you'd like to reduce the number of common RPC exploits, you can rename TFTP to something else, since it is commonly executed to download malicious code. Overall, you should bite the bullet and get a firewall - never trust a windows system directly connected to the internet.

[dglienna]

The only problem I've ever had with an update was SP2, which was caused because I had an old sound card and hadn't updated my system. Microsoft provided free support until I figured out what caused it, and how to fix it.

I've installed updates on dozens of computers without a problem. I don't know why you would suggest not getting updates.

If you stay away from shady websites, you probably won't ever get infected without a firewall. Windows firewall is a pretty good product, and it's free with SP2.

[RobDog888]

@dglienna, well now that MS has forced users to validate their windows as Genuine before getting updates has probably scared off more then a few potential users from updating.

[k1ll3rdr4g0n]

When I first posted a thread like this one months ago, it caused bad arguments. First, I am sorry for being so childish in my first thread about ports. Then I want to ask those questions again with a few different ones:

1. I suspect(no, I know) my MSN Messenger has been hacked. I can still login to gmail and passport.net but I can not log in to MSN Messenger. I'd like to know if somebody can use TFTP and MSN Messenger(he didn't even talked to me in MSN) to hack my MSN Messenger?
2.If so, are there certain ports TFTP use? Can they be detected and listened(code of freeware please...)? Can I refuse incoming data from the listened ports(code or freeware please...)?
3.My father told me MSN Messenger would have caused some security problems.

4.I don't want to use ZoneAlarm(it would interrupt me too much).
5.Can somebody teach me how this port stuff works?

Well, your dad is wrong and right at the same time. Any program can cause security problems, its just the way you use them (like vulunarbities in PHP scripts, its not the PHP langauge that has the security holes its the scripts that other people write). Firewalls are not nescessary if you know how to surf, web surfing has acctually became a skill in this day and age, everytime you goto a new site to download something you have to ask yourself "Does this site look professional enough to download stuff from?". Or is this site just some site that a 5 yr old web designer put together. All the sites I visit are virus free, now the pop-ups they display is another thing. Mostly people get hit by the "Your computer may be infected with a virus, click ok to do a scan" pop up. Because people are so gulliable :\. Personally, I have not had a virus for like 5-7 years (I have never gotten a virus from any P2P FYI).

Did you try and reinstall MSN? Maybe somebody just messed with your hosts file? What internet connection do you have?

/me shrugs