Very Computer

I was wondering,if I could use linux firewall or more techincally use
ipchains command to block viruses like ramen and etc.Is it possible to
do that?If I'm not mistaken, a firewall cannot block virus.Correct me if
I'm wrong.

regards,

maher

A firewall *can* block the ports that a particular breed of trojan uses,
if you know it and are willing to block it, but that still doesn't "make
you safe".  Any time you allow access through the firewall, you're
incurring a risk.  Running a web browser from inside a firewall can
still make you vulnerable to a tunneling attack.  

There are products (unfortunately at this point, only commercial ones
that I know of) that will scan e-mail as well as proxy and scan www and
ftp traffic for viruses.  (Sophos, trend-micro, NAI? )  These should be
considered as an adjunct to a good firewall.

--
Bill Hudson

Quote:> a packet filter can't, but an application level content screening system
> can. it's just very hard to do. this is usually done by proxy firewalls.

A lot of people mistake a packet filter (such as ipchains or ipfilter)
for a firewall. A firewall is more of a concept, using packet filtering
_together_ with proxying, and email and content filtering.

A good firewall consists of more than one component, such as routers,
proxies, and (stateful) packet filters.

EJ
--
"This is not an attack! It is a pre-emptive retaliation."