AOL / security tips ?

Don`t ask...

Someone I know went and ordered AOheLl broadband and is currently on
their dialup service (has been for about a week).

I think the way AOheLl set up a connection is like a VPN - can anyone
advise what, if any, security advantages there are for a WinXP user, or
will they need a firewall as per normal ?

Are any ports open by default, and are there any specific security holes
that might need to be filled ?

They`ve already got some sort of crap trial of AV software I believe
(they bought a new Dell machine)

TIA :-}

FYI: she`s a yank and doesn`t know any better :-p

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Colin Wilson wrote:

> I think the way AOheLl set up a connection is like a VPN - can anyone

I believe this is the case...

> advise what, if any, security advantages there are for a WinXP user, or
> will they need a firewall as per normal ?

Can't see any advantages - only disadvantages: you won't be able to
setup your own VPN. Using a router for sharing a connection is (contrary
to popular belief) possible - but not as straight forward as with a real
ISP.

Another danger is that having the VPN will bypass most firewalls that
run in a router (since the payload at the time the router "sees" it is
still encrypted inside GRE packets) So you are now going to have to rely
on whatever protection AOL errect at their end of the VPN, and what you
can achieve with a software firewall at your end.

> Are any ports open by default, and are there any specific security holes
> that might need to be filled ?

Not sure and probably - but do not have the experience with AOL to answer.

> They`ve already got some sort of crap trial of AV software I believe
> (they bought a new Dell machine)

Better than nowt I suppose.


--
Cheers,

John.

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> > <snip> what, if any, security advantages there are for a WinXP user, or
> > will they need a firewall as per normal ?
> Can't see any advantages - only disadvantages: you won't be able to
> setup your own VPN. Using a router for sharing a connection is (contrary
> to popular belief) possible - but not as straight forward as with a real
> ISP.
> Another danger is that having the VPN will bypass most firewalls that
> run in a router (since the payload at the time the router "sees" it is
> still encrypted inside GRE packets) So you are now going to have to rely
> on whatever protection AOL errect at their end of the VPN, and what you
> can achieve with a software firewall at your end.

Hmm ok thanks for this, I wasn`t sure quite how the VPN side of things
worked - might check out ZoneLabs` site and see what it says about use
with AOL...

Thanks again :-)

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On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:43:20 +0000, Colin Wilson wrote:

>
> Don`t ask...
>
> Someone I know went and ordered AOheLl broadband and is currently on their
> dialup service (has been for about a week).
>
> I think the way AOheLl set up a connection is like a VPN - can anyone
> advise what, if any, security advantages there are for a WinXP user, or
> will they need a firewall as per normal ?

If you google, general consensus with AOL is DON'T.

Dave
--
And you were born knowing all about ms windows....??

> If you google, general consensus with AOL is DON'T.

I know - didn`t have a choice in the matter as they`d already gone and
done it by the time I found out their new system had landed :-}

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Colin Wilson wrote:


> Hmm ok thanks for this, I wasn`t sure quite how the VPN side of things
> worked - might check out ZoneLabs` site and see what it says about use
> with AOL...

I am not sure how AOL implement the client side of their VPN connection.
If they do it the way you would normally create a VPN client in Windows
then the SW firewall ought to be able to interoperate with it - since
a windows style VPN client simply ends up creating a new network
"interface" that can then be routed to or from... (this is the same way
Windows creates a ordinary dialup connection as well).

The AOL software being as invasive as it is however, I would not be
surprised to lean they have "rolled their own" in this case.

You can find out if you use the PC - type IPCONFIG is a command prompt
and look at the interface list - then fire up the AOL connection and
type ipconfig again. If it is implemented as a VPN interface then you
should see an extra interface listed.

Typing "ROUTE PRINT" should also then show the routing table gains new
entries to route all traffic to this interface after the connection to
the net.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

> The AOL software being as invasive as it is however, I would not be
> surprised to lean they have "rolled their own" in this case.

I seem to remember when I reinstalled ZoneAlarm the other day it had
settings for AOL, so it probably will co-exist happily...

> You can find out if you use the PC - type IPCONFIG is a command prompt
> and look at the interface list - then fire up the AOL connection and
> type ipconfig again. If it is implemented as a VPN interface then you
> should see an extra interface listed.
> Typing "ROUTE PRINT" should also then show the routing table gains new
> entries to route all traffic to this interface after the connection to
> the net.

Nice little set of tips there that I didn`t know about :-)

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