security with router ?

My mother uses AOL through a modem. I'm not sure if she has any norton
or anything running. She has been doing this for a couple of years and
seems OK. Does AOL have security built in ? I am considering switching
her to verizon DSL through the phone line onto a router that has a
wireless so I can use my lap top at her house. Will a router provide
adequate security without norton ? Should she get a free security
package, and if so what would you recommend ?

Re: security with router ?

"surf" writes:

> My mother uses AOL through a modem. I'm not sure if she has any norton
> or anything running. She has been doing this for a couple of years and
> seems OK. Does AOL have security built in ?

In their latest stuff they do.

> I am considering switching her to verizon DSL through the phone line
> onto a router that has a wireless so I can use my lap top at her
> house. Will a router provide adequate security without norton ?
> Should she get a free security package, and if so what would you
> recommend ?

I have to be honest. As lousy as I think AOL is, I was dreading going
to help an elderly woman who's a self confessed computer idiot who ran
a non-profit and had been on AOL for years, and was complaining of
very slow performance on her machine. I was expecting the usual
windows bevy of spyware on her machine.

Swear to god, hers was the only machine I'd evaluated that year that
didn't have any spyware or malware on it. My estimation of AOL for
clueless users went up a fair amount that day. She too was on a
modem. ANd this was even before she'd installed the AOL with the
security suite. The computer was dying for RAM I think it had a
whopping 64meg or something.

So, I guess I'd say don't assume that a DSL + router will actually
improve much other than her speed. Especially if you intend to turn
her loose with something like Internet Explorer.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

Re: security with router ?

On 10 Oct 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup comp.security.misc, in article
<1160488281.727688.13590@m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com>, surf wrote:

> My mother uses AOL through a modem. I'm not sure if she has any norton
>or anything running. She has been doing this for a couple of years and
>seems OK. Does AOL have security built in ?

They sure advertise the heck out of that "feature".

>I am considering switching her to verizon DSL through the phone line onto
>a router that has a wireless so I can use my lap top at her house. Will a
>router provide adequate security without norton ?

Be aware that you are replacing an ISP for the brain-dead with a very
wide open "bad end of town". She will not thank you.

Your headers say Debian. Start by nmap'ing the snot out of her computer
and seeing what exactly is flapping in the breeze. Look at your own system
- using 'netstat -tuan' and see what's open. There _should_ be nothing.
Windoze has a similar command 'netstat /ano' and you want nothing open there
either. Run over to 'alt.internet.wireless' and see how to set up
the wireless junk securely. It's relatively easy, but not obvious.

>Should she get a free security package, and if so what would you recommend ?

Debian sounds good. Maybe Ubunto or Kubunto if you want something simpler.

Old guy