Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Windows/NetBIOS pop-up Spam:

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the only-a-matter-of-time dept.

bofus writes "This article from Wired News presents a new way to deliver unsolicited advertising content - the MS Windows Messenger service. It appears that the client software hasn't been widely distributed yet, but it's probably only a matter of time before a free clone is circulating. This method could become the delivery method of choice for all kinds of unsolicited junk, given the number of unsecured PCs out there. On the flip side, if you run a relatively secured machine and have some sort of firewall, this probably shouldn't concern you."

1 of 411 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Does anyone here actually understand TCP/IP? by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    You are forced to block both TCP and UDP for any given port number. Because of this, you end up blocking more than is required.

    And the problem with this is what exactly? Your firewall should block everything unless you specifically exempt it. Only people living in 1994 are still trying to play the "I'll just block dangerous ports" whack-a-mole game with their firewalls. Any el-cheapo home Linksys box will block all inbound connections by default. There isn't any reason to be using NetBIOS across the Internet period. It's a horribly insecure protocol that was never designed to be used across a WAN. Keep it on the intranet where it is meant to be used.