Mickey Ferguson writes:
>I was just wondering if any virus generators, etc., might know about this
>port and try to gain access into my PC that way. Is that a security risk?
>After all, I do have a workaround where I disable NPF, connect to VNC, and
>then immediately re-enable NPF. That leaves me unprotected for maybe ten
>seconds maximum. Maybe I should leave well enough alone?
This is very unlikely. I have never heard of a virus connecting to a port,
to spread itself or anything; and to be perfectly honest this is a
ridiculous notion, since it couldn't do anything. Very few daemons (programs
running in the background (in windows speak TSR's - Terminate and Stay
Resident)) which accept connections allow direct access to the machine, and
most ask for a password up front.
Your workaround sounds complex to me, surely you would need to be in front
of the PC to disable NPF, which is what VNC is there to 'prevent'. From what
Angus Macleod says NPF would appear to work like ZoneAlarm and its just a
case of telling NPF that you want VNC to access the Internet and act as a
server.
Why o' Why are there so many paranoid people out there, the average Joe on
the street is unlikely to be the subject of cracker/hacker attack unless he
upsets someone or runs a big server that lots of people know about.
Cracking/Hacking is only fun if there is a publicity factor or you want to
enact revenge on someone. NPF can probably mask the fact that the VNC port
is open to protect from port scanners, however I tend to accept that this is
just something that 'happens' on the Internet, because there is very little
I can do about it, apart from disabling non-essential services.
Seth
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