Software updates behind a firewall

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ez_tracer

Registered
I have a pc running win2kpro that acts as a gateway/router to
the internet for my 2 Macs.

I installed Zone Alarm pro on the PC yesterday. Now I can't get
software updates for my macs, I keep getting this message " The update
server could not be found. Make sure your network is configured
properly, then try again". While I can access most websites, I also noticed
that my ADSL connection is slightly slower after I installed Zone Alarm.

I also have the firewall on both my macs turned on, Should I turn this off?
The only reason I installed Zone Alarm is because my PC kept getting
infected by this IRC/Backdoor trojan and I got tired of runnning manual scans everytime it got infected.
How do i configure zone alarm so I can receive software updates for my Macs?

thanks
 
Coupla points

1 - if you have a Windows PC anywhere on your network, don't turn off firewalls on your Macs. Just too risky.

2 - I'm not too familiar with zone alarm, but is there a way to make it ask you annoying questions for every single connection attempt? If you could do that, you might be able to find out exactly where the Macs have to connect to.

If that fails, there are other, more involved ways, of finding out exactly what's happening on the macs when you try to connect to software update, that we could go into.
 
Thanks for the reply,
I'll leave the firewall on my Macs on. Using my PC as a router is a temporary
solution because it has 2 ethernet cards. I plan to get a dedicated router to
do the job soon. In the meantime, I'm going to go through the Zone Alarm
manual to get it configured right.

Also, I'm still getting used to the idea of running a computer without
an Anti-Virus software. Should I get an Anti Virus software for my Macs?
Is this this IRC/BackDoor.SdBot27.BJ trojan thats been infecting my pc will
somehow cause problems with my Macs?

thanks
 
ez_tracer said:
Also, I'm still getting used to the idea of running a computer without
an Anti-Virus software. Should I get an Anti Virus software for my Macs?
Is this this IRC/BackDoor.SdBot27.BJ trojan thats been infecting my pc will
somehow cause problems with my Macs?

thanks
Click to expand...

I won't say a Windows virus can't ever affect a Mac. There was a big problem a while back with Word Macro viruses, which were cross platform, so the potential is there. However, since the file systems, the commands, the memory management and so many other low level resources are so different, it's fairly unlikely. What's more likely is that you will download a virus file to your Mac, then somehow transfer it to your Windows computer. For that reason, if you are in a mixed environment, I would recommend virus software for the Mac. If you are solely relying on your Windows AV software, you have a single point of failure. If you are using AV software on both platforms, and keeping both updated regularly, you have multi-layer protection which is much more powerful.

Just FYI, Network Associates, one of the largest AV software companies, scans for more than 71,000 viruses, and as of last August showed no viruses existing for OS X. (http://www.macobserver.com/editorial/2003/08/29.1.shtml)

I'm surprised Software Update didn't work with Zone Alarm. I thought it used port 80 like any other web traffic. Guess I'm going to have to do some digging to find out what port it's using.

Hope this helps!
 
When you run software update, does your ZoneAlarm pop-up asking you to allow a connection to the Internet from a local IP address?

ZoneAlarm is a pain. It does work, especially against spyware or trojan horses as it prevents them from calling home without your knowledge. If you're not getting any conformation alert from ZoneAlarm, I'd probably just go get a router. Even with a router, ZoneAlarm can help keeps a Windows machine clean though.

Also, if your Windows PC running Zone Alarm is acting as your Internet gateway, you really don't need to be running a firewall on your Macs too, though it shouldn't be complicating anything as long as it's not blocking anything important.
 
Also, if your Windows PC running Zone Alarm is acting as your Internet gateway, you really don't need to be running a firewall on your Macs too
Click to expand...

I disagree with you there - a typical home network (I know mine is this way) has lots of services running inside it that have no business being accessible from the internet. If there's a computer on the network that keeps getting backdoor trojans, then that computer becomes a way into your soft & squishy internal network - a back door, right?

Antivirus will catch most such infections, but it only takes one uncaught backdoor to phone home, and some nasty person owns a computer on your home network. Internal firewalls won't protect you totally, but it can add a little to the work that person has to do.
 
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