Questions about responding to Pings

[Darrin Chandler]

Siri Amrit Kaur wrote:

>I'd like to learn about Pings. I did a port scan test and all my ports are in 
>stealth mode, but my system responded to pings and the test results said that 
>was a security risk. If that's true, how do I make it not respond to pings? 
>Is there a SIMPLE way to do this? I'm scared to go mucking about in iptables.
>
>A little info on my setup: 
>I'm using PCLOS (based on Mandrake) and the Shorewall firewall, on a 
>standalone box with a DSL modem/router. I'm not running any servers. I have 
>the software firewall in the modem turned off because it was screwing some 
>things up. 
>
>Thanks,
>
>Siri Amrit
>  
>

Hmm. www.kernel.org returns pings. Someone must think it's ok. All my 
boxen allow pings, too.

If you're not going to get into iptables (understandable), then spend a 
little time reading the pros and cons of the various firewalls and 
decide which will to the best job for you. After you've got it installed 
and configured, then you'll have to trust it to do its job to a large 
degree. The only alternative is to learn iptables, etc. And you'll want 
to keep up with updates on your firewall.

-- 
Darrin Chandler            |  Phoenix BSD Users Group
dwchandler at stilyagin.com   |  http://bsd.phoenix.az.us/
http://www.stilyagin.com/  |