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General discussion

Is firewall really necessary?

Mar 19, 2005 11:54AM PST

Is firewall really necessary?

My computer runs on Windows XP Professional with SP1, and most of the small security updates. I use Firefox, Spybot S$D, and Adaware, but no antivirus. The computer runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for more than 2 years. It's rebooted only when newly installed programs make it necessary, which is about once every 2 monthes. I use Bittorrent heavily, and seed a lot of anime torrents for my fansub group. There are dozens of downloads/uploads running at any given time. My computer is connected directly to the Cable modem with 5Mbps downstream speed. I have never used any kind of firewall, as they prevent efficient torrenting. I even disabled the Windows firewall just for that.

Despite never having any firewall or antivirus, my computer have never had a virus, spyware, adware, or malware of any kind. Some people told me this is just luck, but for more than 2 years? Not only that, keep in mind that my computer is kept online 24 hours a day.

A lot of people pay big money on firewall and antivirus. Is it really necessary, or are they just being ripped off by the companies making big money off it?

I've known for a long time that most people get malware that does weird things installed on their machines, and thought they were viruses. So, they spend a lot of money to buy antivirus software and firewalls, which doesn't even do anything against installed adware/spyware. Furthermore, some of these adware/malware are made by the very companies that sell antivirus/firewall.

Am I onto something here, or just extremely lucky for more than 2 years?

Discussion is locked

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XP SP1 = You better.
Mar 19, 2005 12:24PM PST
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Services?
Mar 19, 2005 10:16PM PST

What services come with XP1? What did they mean by hack? Isn't it just remote connection attempts, and not real hacking? I would be really flattered if someone out there takes the time and effort to hack my computer...

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Please move this to the Security Forum as...
Mar 19, 2005 11:15PM PST

It's off topic here.

Bob

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How do you move a thread?
Mar 20, 2005 7:03AM PST

?

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(NT) (NT) Just start one there.
Mar 20, 2005 7:19AM PST
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(NT) (NT) bob remember this simular thread in xp? dif name
Mar 21, 2005 5:40AM PST