open ports

I thought it would be a good idea to try 'shields up' in a quiet moment and
found the following problems:

Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) - Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP Echo)
requests, making it visible on the Internet.

Solicited TCP Packets: RECEIVED (FAILED) - one or more of your system's
ports actively responded to our deliberate attempts to establish a
connection.

My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo reply
and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?

Thanks.

In article <1116785813.07556de4c532884aecf7157fe681b2cc@teran ews>,
"F9" (E-Mail Removed) says...
> I thought it would be a good idea to try 'shields up' in a quiet moment and
> found the following problems:
>
> Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) - Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP Echo)
> requests, making it visible on the Internet.
>
> Solicited TCP Packets: RECEIVED (FAILED) - one or more of your system's
> ports actively responded to our deliberate attempts to establish a
> connection.
>
> My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo reply

Yes

> and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?
>
Nothing significant that I've noticed, although apparently some
services may use it to check that you're still there. If you block
it make sure that you drop it rather than refusing - you can do this
by forwarding the appropriate port to a non-existent local address if
your router doesn't have an ignore option.

In article <1116785813.07556de4c532884aecf7157fe681b2cc@teran ews>, F9
says...
> I thought it would be a good idea to try 'shields up' in a quiet moment and
> found the following problems:
>
> Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) - Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP Echo)
> requests, making it visible on the Internet.
>
> Solicited TCP Packets: RECEIVED (FAILED) - one or more of your system's
> ports actively responded to our deliberate attempts to establish a
> connection.
>
> My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo reply
> and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?
>
You see, this is why I hate websites like that. They scare you into
thinking that its the end of the world.


--
Conor

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." O.Osbourne.

"F9" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1116785813.07556de4c532884aecf7157fe681b2cc@t eranews...
> I thought it would be a good idea to try 'shields up' in a quiet moment
and
> found the following problems:
>
> Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) - Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP
Echo)
> requests, making it visible on the Internet.

That's a bit rubbish really, as they say, there's more than one way to skin
a cat. Just because you have ICMP (or maybe just type 8) disabled, it
doesn't mean your system is "invisible".


> Solicited TCP Packets: RECEIVED (FAILED) - one or more of your system's
> ports actively responded to our deliberate attempts to establish a
> connection.

That really could be anything, are you running a webserver or heck even a
p2p application?
Did it mention a specific port that was open? Some things are potentially
serious, while others are not at all.

> My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo
reply
> and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?

The only problem you'll create for yourself is that you can't do a quick
check to see if you're machine is alive. If you're asking the question, then
you probably wont ever need to do it anyway so it's perfectly ok to disable
ICMP. Most broadband routers have the facility to do it for you, that way
you can keep the ability to ping on your LAN, which can be very usefull.

>
> Thanks.

You're welcome.

"F9" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1116785813.07556de4c532884aecf7157fe681b2cc@t eranews...
>I thought it would be a good idea to try 'shields up' in a quiet moment and
>found the following problems:
>
> Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) - Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP
> Echo) requests, making it visible on the Internet.
>
> Solicited TCP Packets: RECEIVED (FAILED) - one or more of your system's
> ports actively responded to our deliberate attempts to establish a
> connection.
>
> My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo
> reply and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?
>
> Thanks.

I think you are right. I have outpost pro in stealth mode so cant see why
anything can see an ftp port or get a ping back. It must be to do with the
router.

In article <1116858331.16f44c6e09318bd24a59675de71a8bc6@teran ews>,
"F9" (E-Mail Removed) says...
> "F9" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:1116785813.07556de4c532884aecf7157fe681b2cc@t eranews...
> >I thought it would be a good idea to try 'shields up' in a quiet moment and
> >found the following problems:
> >
> > Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) - Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP
> > Echo) requests, making it visible on the Internet.
> >
> > Solicited TCP Packets: RECEIVED (FAILED) - one or more of your system's
> > ports actively responded to our deliberate attempts to establish a
> > connection.
> >
> > My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo
> > reply and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?
> >
> > Thanks.
>
> I think you are right. I have outpost pro in stealth mode so cant see why
> anything can see an ftp port or get a ping back. It must be to do with the
> router.
>
Of course it's to do with the router, that's what has the public IP
address - in order for Shields UP to report on your PC you'd have to
have set up port forwarding.

In article <1116858331.16f44c6e09318bd24a59675de71a8bc6@teran ews>, F9
says...
> "F9" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:1116785813.07556de4c532884aecf7157fe681b2cc@t eranews...
> >I thought it would be a good idea to try 'shields up' in a quiet moment and
> >found the following problems:
> >
> > Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) - Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP
> > Echo) requests, making it visible on the Internet.
> >
> > Solicited TCP Packets: RECEIVED (FAILED) - one or more of your system's
> > ports actively responded to our deliberate attempts to establish a
> > connection.
> >
> > My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo
> > reply and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?
> >
> > Thanks.
>
> I think you are right. I have outpost pro in stealth mode so cant see why
> anything can see an ftp port or get a ping back. It must be to do with the
> router.
>
ANd this is why the GRC.com Shields test is a waste of time.

--
Conor

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." O.Osbourne.

(E-Mail Removed) declared for all the world to hear...
> My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo reply
> and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?

Responding to a ping is like sitting on top of a stepladder in no-mans
land, smoking endless cigars through a luminous balaclava. It's the
equivalent of shouting "Oi, Mr hacker! Over here! Come and attack me!"

Most routers can be set not to respond to ping on the WAN port, and it's
a good idea to do so. As for the open ports, you should only really open
ports if you absolutely have to. Default firewall settings is to allow
anything outbound but deny anything inbound.
--
Regards
Jon

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Jon says...
> (E-Mail Removed) declared for all the world to hear...
> > My question is how can I sort this out. Is a ping the same as an echo reply
> > and if i block it what new problems will i creat for myself?
>
> Responding to a ping is like sitting on top of a stepladder in no-mans
> land, smoking endless cigars through a luminous balaclava. It's the
> equivalent of shouting "Oi, Mr hacker! Over here! Come and attack me!"
>
Jon....

Perhaps you'd like to go learn something about networking. Focus on NAT
for a start.


--
Conor

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." O.Osbourne.

(E-Mail Removed) declared for all the world to hear...
> Jon....

Yes.

> Perhaps you'd like to go learn something about networking. Focus on NAT
> for a start.

Well, they could attack his router then!
--
Regards
Jon