Re: [Full-disclosure] Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ?

[Robert Portvliet <robert.portvliet@xxxxxxxxx>]

Pretty much all it's going to take is one exploit delivered through
email (link, pdf, etc.) and the box is owned.

Botnet clients work by connecting outward (phoning home) so the
firewall & router won't do anything for illicit outgoing traffic
unless you set up egress filtering to catch it.

I would say patch that box immediately, a lot of vulnerabilities have
come along since 2008.



On Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 2:29 PM, Steven Anders <anderstev@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I received great responses and am very grateful to the help from community
> of this list. Thank you.
>
>
> I have a dumb question: Is a Windows box behind a router safe ?
>
> It is my father's PC and the Windows OS was not updated regularly. The
> Windows box was connected through wire (RJ45) to the router. The router is
> then connected to the DSL modem.
> The Windows Box has SP2 installed and the default Windows firewall enabled -
> and I think was last updated from Windows Update on in 2008. It has AVG anti
> virus.
> The PC was never moved anywhere and is always behind the router. The router
> has default settings, which I believe has no ports open.
>
> He never installed any applications or downloads anything off the net -
> mainly it is used for emails and general web browsing (using Firefox, not
> IE). I informed him to use Firefox, since IE has so many security issues.
>
>
> My questions are:
>
> 1.  There are many exploits and vulnerabilities of Windows, but I was
> wondering if outdated Windows box behind router generally safe ?  Since, the
> Windows box was not updated with the latest updates.
> I have always thought that having a computer behind the router (since router
> has firewall) is generally safe, but I would love to hear insights or
> thoughts.
>
>
> 2. If a Windows box is behind a router, could a botnet be installed to it ?
> Assuming, the end user does not install/download any applications from the
> Internet and always use Firefox.
>
>
> Thank you all in advance.
> steve
>
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