Windows XP Firewall Ports
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I want to play a (trusted) game online that requires me to allow 4 incoming TCP ports in Windows Firewall. None of them appear to be used by Trojans, not that I run any programs I don't trust anyway. Is it safe to open the ports? Thanks so much, Pete
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I want to play a (trusted) game online that requires me to allow 4 incoming TCP ports in Windows Firewall. None of them appear to be used by Trojans, not that I run any programs I don't trust anyway. Is it safe to open the ports? Thanks so much, Pete
Basically, no, never ;) In reality, sometimes you have to open ports. Unless there is a known vulnerability with that game, noone will have an additional point of entry to your system, because any connections to those ports will be evaluated by the game. Your system, however, will be more visible if anyone tries to probe these ports. After all, I regularly open ports to play games online, but I keep them shut when I do not use the game that needs them.
Cheers, Sebastian -- Ceterum censeo, borlandem esse delendam.
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Basically, no, never ;) In reality, sometimes you have to open ports. Unless there is a known vulnerability with that game, noone will have an additional point of entry to your system, because any connections to those ports will be evaluated by the game. Your system, however, will be more visible if anyone tries to probe these ports. After all, I regularly open ports to play games online, but I keep them shut when I do not use the game that needs them.
Cheers, Sebastian -- Ceterum censeo, borlandem esse delendam.
Alright, thanks very much! :)
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Alright, thanks very much! :)
An alternative, both easy and secure, might be that both of you set up a VPN between both of you. Your VPN will create a virtual interface, that basically doesn't need a a firewall, but it only accessible over your private network. What you and your friend (well, only the "server") needs to do, is open one port. I use openVPN for this, which is free and open source. And you can run this over obscure UDP ports.. so all portscanners will see, is -say- UDP port 38492 which is open.. and all traffic have to be encrypted and authenticated anyways. Hope this helps, it improved my gameplay :)