Digital BW, The Print

Lately I've been looking at firewall software packages to replace a 
freeware that I've been using for some time. It kept all ports closed 
but one, the Ping Echo port which would acknowledge any ping request 
from the net.

Ping requests are sent by, amongst others, hackers and spammers 
looking for unprotected computers which they can later use for 
massive email spamming or even denial of service attacks.

After looking at several firewall packages, I've finally decided on 
an SMC Barricade (SMC7004ABR) It's a 4-port 10/100 Mbps Broadband 
Router. It allows for up to 4 computers to connect to one internet 
connection, cable or even 56k modem.

But the best thing about it is that it provides the firewall 
protection that I need for only $29.95 canadian after instant and 
mail-in rebate or about $23.00 US. I'm sure it's about to be replaced 
by a newer model, but the price is right and it does the job: my 
computer no longer responds to ping requests and all other ports are 
closed.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?
logon=&langid=EN&dept=0&WLBS=fsweb9&sku_id=0665000FS10008877&catid=&ne
wdeptid=18
This link is rather long, dont forget to copy and paste the missing 
caracters into your browser.

If you want to test your computer's vulnerability to online threats :
Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym

Gibson Research Corp.'s ShieldsUP!
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

I sure hope that this is not too far off topic, but as a digital b&w 
printer I do use the internet to subscribe to this list. Please dont 
flame me!

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Andre