>>Sometime back I read that there is a major security leak in Windows for
>>Workgroups, such that a WfWg system connected to the Internet on a dial-up
>>basis becomes a TCP node, accessible to all of cyberspace.
Since no one else has tried an answer posted in the WATPA mailing list
I will try what i understand to be the case. I encourage others in
our ranks who may know to answer as well.
-- It depends on the type of the dial-up connection. So called 'shell'
connections & the older dial up connections access the provider in a
host type mode, the user can get the hosts data, etc. and effectivly
operates the host computer. The newer SLIP & PPP connections (used for
WWW access) establishes the user's computer as a full-fledged peer on
the internet (with a dynamically [not randomly] chosen IP address).
As a peer, others on the net can theoretically access the user's machine,
but how a non-hacker or non-provider-system-administrator could find
a given user's machine's address, when they are actually connected,
is unknown to me.
I have seen others expressing concern about this issue in periodicals,
and even questionable rumors of such snooping by providers has made me
wary. I wouldnt worry about most peoples home PC's (however personal).
But I wont access any network providers from machines that contain
source code-the stuff that puts food on the table. There must be
other references on this subject, anyone seen anything?
Safe Computing,
Matt