| Now that it's all installed and
running, I wanted to see just what I could and couldn't do. Normally
after installing new hardware there are some problems but not with the
PIX 501, it ran great right out of the box. Sending and receiving email,
cruising the net and gaming all worked fine. I do notice that some web
pages load a little slower but it might just be a bad day for the
net.
I also wanted to see just how secure my system was
so I tried going to a few different sites to see what they could
see, or better yet....can't see! One of the things these sites checks
for is your IP address. Well It can't see mine anymore but what it does
see is the firewalls IP address. The firewall masks mine so a would be
hacker that's doing an IP scan would not be able to see it because it's stealthed
now. I always told myself that I would get a firewall if I had a problem
so this is the reason for it now. I have to say that having an
"always on connection" for over two years now and not having a
problem till recently is pretty good.
If you want to see just how secure your system is,
try going to one or all of these sites and have it scan your system and
check the results. Mine passed with flying colors but was wide open for
an attack before which is why I got slammed.
Site 1 Takes
awhile to check at this site.
Site
2 No need to install the software here so just click
"no" and then scan.
I bought my PIX 501 through Merrill Technical
Services Inc. at (909) 352-9097. Be sure to talk to Merrill about any of
your needs. These guys have a sales and tech support all wrapped into
one and I have to say in all my days of buying hardware, these guys
treated me fantastic. I highly recommend them.
Hope this helps you determine if your system is vulnerable
or not and if it is, you might consider buying one of the hardware
firewalls by
Cisco. |
