I dont know if anyone has replied to this yet, but here is some advice.
The port 139 exploit was usually used for file and printer sharing hacks.
Having that port open will allow someone to see your computer online with
programs that will check for file and printer sharing vulnerabilities and
also, possibly use your computer for DDOS attacks or flood your computer via
that port.
I would make sure file and printer sharing is not on (you may not have set
it on, but sometimes its on by default and with no password)
YOU SAID "I used winipcfg.exe to obtain my IP address (192.168.1.101) "
It tells me you are on an internal network and that is not your real ip
address but an internal address. You will have another ip that is your real
ip address, you can find this by googling it and looking for online ip
finders.
For DDOS and flood attacks make sure you have a nice firewall set up and you
should be fine.
Win98 closed that port in later additions and service packs, so you may want
to update your windows at windows update if you can.
Kelly Sigethy
Frynge.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <gohyongkwang@hotmail.com>
To: <security-basics@securityfocus.com>
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 9:01 PM
Subject: No NetBios share + No Open Port = Safe Win98?
Hi,
I'm using an old computer at home for casual personal communication
(checking Web based emails and MSN instant messaging) and Web surfing and it
is still running on Windows 98 SE due to its limited RAM and CPU power. No
plan to upgrade and the computer is still good enough for the simple job.
Nevertheless, since I connect my computer to the Internet via a ADSL
router/modem, I did some preliminary check on my computer to see how secure
I am.
I used winipcfg.exe to obtain my IP address (192.168.1.101) and did a
netstat -a on it to find out what ports are open and/or listening. It
reports only port 139 as listening, which after googling around a bit says
it's a NetBios session port. Dunnoe what this means though, but I've _not_
enabled "File and Printer Sharing."
Now assuming I'm a cautious Web surfer who uses Firefox and only visit
reputable sites like MSN, Yahoo! and Google, and avoid visiting hacking
sites and running hacking tools, and that my computer is currently not
infected by malware, virus or rootkit (i.e. computer is clean and updated),
is there any way that a hacker can still connect to my computer over the
Internet, browse my hard disk and steal my files?
Theoretically, I've not enabled port forwarding in my router/modem, and so
external computer trying to ping or connect to my computer should not
succeed, and if there's no port listening at all (except for port 139), no
other computer should be able to infilitrate right?
Yet, I can't say anything is foolproof. So just like to seek your expert
opinion. What are the other areas I should continue to look at to further
protect my system? Is it still possible to be attacked through a listening
port 139 with file sharing disabled?
Thanks in advance.
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in Information Security. Our program offers unparalleled Infosec management
education and the case study affords you unmatched consulting experience.
Using interactive e-Learning technology, you can earn this esteemed degree,
without disrupting your career or home life.
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