John In Remote Kansas (JIRK) on LIK's cookie

john in hull
Many web sites post programs that you can download and use without payment. Usually there is a disclaimer saying that you can not "distribute" it - i.e. sell it to others. Some say that, if you pass it on, you must pass it on "complete," which means that what you give somebody else has to include all of the files and source credits. But it is "FREE." That is what is usually meant by "freeware." Programs provided on disks in a magazine would usually be included in this category.
Some programs will allow you a "trial use" period, sometimes with certain features disabled. If you want full use of the program, you send them money, and they either send you the full program - or a code to unlock the mutilated features. These are what we usually call "shareware."
A few commercial programs allow you to download "trial versions," usually with a whole lot of things (like the Help File and printing) disabled. You get the whole program by paying them their fee to get an "unlock code." I wouldn't call these shareware, but the principal is the same.

I can't claim to be an expert on sysadmin stuff, but the advice I get, from what I consider reliable sources, is that anyone with any permanent connection to the net should probably have a hardware firewall. Very few people who operate their own computers actually have one.
Some ISPs (Internet Service Providers - the guys you connect to to get to the net) claim to have firewalls that protect everyone connected to them, but the big guys in the business say it ain't necessarily so. You could try asking your ISP what his security features are, but chances are he's too busy selling hookups to give you a good answer.

A good hardware firewall will run to 4 or 5 hundred $$, so many people try software protection as a first step. The current hot product in this category is called BlackIce Defender, which runs about $40 on the street. BlackIce will block some kinds of access attempts, but the main thing that BlackIce will give you is a log of when, how often, and sometimes "from-where" your system has been "attacked." The usual response to the first look at a log is "astonishment." Most people are unaware of how many a******* are out there trying to screw with everybody else.

My main source for information about general computer stuff is "PC Magazine." I get the "Systems Manager" version, which may not be quite the same as what is on the newsstands. You can look at most of the mags content at www.pcmag.com. An article in the Feb 22, 2000 issue, titled "Security," gave a rundown of Win2000 Security issues - probably more than you want to know if your not Win2000 on a network. Subsites are at www.pcmag.com/solutions (some good utility [freeware] downloads), www.pcmag.com/pipeline (industry news), www.cpmag.com/opinions (some editors even more opinionated than I am), www.firstlooks.com (new products - should include some reviews of security stuff). Virtually All(?) of the PC magazines published in the US come from Ziff Davis publishing. You should be able to get some good info from www.zdnet.com. Last time I looked, you could link from zdnet to pcmag, but that may have changed.
I hate to recommend that you go surf a site as deep as these, because it can be a real time-eater, but they can be helpful if you have a concern.

The pros recommend at least a software ap like BlackIce for POTS connection, or if you ALWAYS log off when not in use. They generally do not consider this adequate by itself for any constant-connected link.

Not to scare anyone, but the opionion of regular professional web users is "If you're not paranoid, you don't understand the situation."

JIRK - disconnecting :-)!