Since switching to Ubuntu as my main OS I’ve been taking security fairly much for granted, but I’m just wondering whether my router is modern enough to be trusted with sole firewall duties.
Here’s a link to its’ datasheet.
http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/DG834GV5/DG834Gv5_DS_17Aug10.pdf
M
Yes, it’ll be fine.
You can always use the shields up website to scan your ports to see if they’re stealthed or not:
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2
Thanks Mark,
Will do.
Mike
Mark,
Shields Up shows my PC as completely invisible, but I’ve had the same result in the past under Windows XP…
How do we discern between positives and potentially false positives?
You’ve lost me…
positive and false positive what ?
@ Mark
I think Mike’s brain is still in ‘Windows’ mode (as is the case of all of us, at first, who come over from the ‘dark side’). When it switches to ‘Linux’ mode he’ll be fine! 
@ Mike
Relax! If Shields Up says you’re invisible - you’re invisible! I went through exactly the same thing when I changed from Vista to Ubuntu (now Mint 17 and very happy) and have never, in 3 years and more, had any security issues whatsoever. It don’t half make a difference when you can sleep at night…!! ;D
Rich
Whit Shields UP you are testing the firewall on your router and not your local OS.
If you want to test the OS then disable the firewall in your router and then repeat the test.
Just do not forget to re-enable it again.
Although that does seem kinda redundant - invisible & secure is the same whether your router or OS is doing the leg work. In face, router is better, as all devices will be secure then (phones, tablets, printers, and PCs)
Thanks guys,
Mark - I meant positive/false positive results from Shields Up.
Can’t remember where, but I do remember someone, somewhere on the internet suggesting that Shields Up results shouldn’t be relied upon too readily.
I’m not suggesting that that is the case. Just asking what others think. After all - do any of us know the writer(s) of Shields Up?
Can’t remember where, but I do remember someone, somewhere on the internet suggesting that Shields Up results shouldn’t be relied upon too readily.
That’s not true…
Shields Up will scan for and attempt to initiate an INBOUND connection on commonly used ports at the routers WAN IP address … the router will either
a) ALLOW a connection
b) DENY a connection
c) REJECT - not respond to the request at all (aka “stealth”)
There can be no “false positives”.
What it CANNOT do is check if there’s some malware on your PC that is initiating an OUTBOUND connection … unless you know how to manually check for outbound connections or suspicious outbound activity you’ll have to rely on the fact that Linux security is pretty solid and the only way malware could have gotten onto your system (if indeed it exists) is if YOU installed it, in which case no AV or firewall would protect you against it anyway.
If you stick to installing software through your package manager(s), and only from the default repositories or trusted repos … and you’re behind a NAT router, you have nothing to worry about and don’t need AV or a software firewall.
If it’ll appease the vestiges of your Windows bound paranoia, feel free to install gufw
sudo apt-get install gufw
then run:
menu > Preferences > Firewall Configuration
and make sure
Status = ON
Incoming = Deny (or Reject)
Outgoing = Allow
Quote:and you’re behind a NAT router.
What if you cant use a NAT Router…?.
Jocklad :
See the edit I just made above about installing gufw and setting inbound connections to DENY or REJECT
But the OP IS behind a NAT router (Netgear DG834G) ???
Thanks Mark…Always wondered about GUFW.
Jocklad
I’ll try that Mark, thanks,
But this isn’t really specifically Windows based paranoia. I suppose what I’m asking is this. How do we know we can trust the writer(s) of Shields UP?
There have been various instances of ‘anti-malware’ software in fact being malware itself. And as you said in another thread "How can you be sure “Epic Browser” isn’t spying on you MORE than say Chromium of Firefox ? … it’s not open source, you cannot inspect the code, soo you have no way of knowing what it’s doing.
I wouldn’t install just any unknown software on my PC (Linux or Windows), so how do I know I can trust a piece of software written by people why clearly know a lot more than I do about port scans etc, especially when, by definition, it’s doing port scans (and more) on my computer?
Don’t get me wrong - I’m pretty sure I can trust Shields Up. Just that I have known others on the internet to express reservations.
You can trust Shields Up because it’s a simple port scanning tool that’s results are widely known to tally with other port scanners (such as nmap which is probably what it uses).
As for browsers such as “Epic” … you can’t 100% trust it, it’s closed source so nobody gets to review the code.
But that’s also the reason you won’t find it in the default repositories … if it isn’t open source (so the code can be reviewed) it doesn’t make it into the default software repositories, full stop
OK, that’s good enough for me.
I’ll mark this one ‘solved’.
Thanks Mark.
No problem
See your personal messages.