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Stopping NetBIOS Spam?

Posted by Cliff on from the nothing-is-sacred dept.

MoonFacedAssassin asks: "I woke up this morning to find that my computer had a Windows messaging pop-up window with an advertisement about getting diplomas and degrees. I was quite shocked to find that my Bellsouth DSL IP address had been spammed. Has this happened to anyone else? Other than closing off the port which this can come through, are there any other ways to block this spam? And, how responsible is Bellsouth (or any ISP for that matter) in handling issues like this?"

4 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. um. by danielrose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are you new?
    Seems to me that restricting the port would be the sane method of preventing outside persons from exploiting your system. The same as any other service on any other port.

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    i hate pansy republicans
    1. Re:um. by biglig2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Netbios exposed to the internet? Ouchies. If your set-up has security that bad then the ISP isn't the peroson to ask for help - because who knows what else you've left lying open?

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      ~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
  2. You said it yourself... by xt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Block the port. To be honest, I can't understand why you would leave any ports open, when on an always-on connection, with a static IP address. Unless you have a service running on a port, that you want it to be public accessible, all other ports should be blocked and stealth. Experience says this is especially true for netbios ports...

    As for the second part, you cannot count on an ISP's usage terms to protect you from malicious acts. For good or for bad, they sell access services, not security services.

  3. Re:Overlooking the obvious by jilles · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Especially not if you don't know how to configure it. There's even a GUI for disabling NETBIOS.

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    Jilles