Check Your Hacker Vulnerability for Free

Scott Spanbauer

If you've spent any time looking into cable modems, DSL, satellite, or some other always-on Internet-access technology, you've probably heard over and over that you need to install and use a personal firewall--either firmware inside your access device, or software such as Network ICE's BlackICE Defender, Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm, or Symantec's Norton Internet Security.

Although a firewall may be sufficient to keep intruders from accessing your system remotely, how can you be certain? One quick way is to visit a Web site that will test your system and try to find Internet security flaws just as a cracker would.

Steve Gibson's free Shields Up service tests common port addresses on your system and issues a report on your hacker vulnerability. Gibson clearly explains complex Internet-security technologies in plain English. And if you have firewall software running on your system, you'll get a report listing all the probes that originated from the Shields Up site.

Shields Up checks only a handful of your system's thousands of possible ports, however. If you are interested in a more thorough probe, give the incredible HackerWhacker service a try.

HackerWhacker offers a higher level of security by scanning your PC's entire range of more than 130,000 possible port addresses. It also examines Windows' NetBIOS networking configuration. HackerWhacker provides a complementary trial scan, but additional scans cost $10 apiece. Alternatively, you can pay $30 for a three-month Home Computer Membership, which gives you unlimited scans. The peace of mind that the service offers is unrivaled.

Weed Out Dead Bookmarks

Isn't it sad when your favorite Web sites dry up and blow away? You may be fastidious about keeping your bookmarks organized, but it can be downright disturbing to find that a link points to a site that has moved or been deleted.

Fortunately, Netscape's Navigator offers a feature that helps you keep your bookmarks fresh: The browser can be set to detect changes to your bookmarked pages. Navigator won't automatically find the new pages (if any), and it doesn't tell you whether a page is gone or has simply moved, but it does tell you which pages you don't need to update yourself.

To check all your Navigator bookmarks automatically, press Ctrl-B to open the Bookmarks window, choose View, Update Bookmarks, then click Start Checking. Navigator will add a question mark to the icons of the bookmarks that require updating.

Internet Explorer offers a similar capability. It automatically downloads updates for any pages on your Favorites list that have changed since the last time you viewed them, but it doesn't tell you much about the pages that have vanished.

In IE 4. x, you must first subscribe to the Web site (either when you add it to your Favorites list or afterward by right-clicking the entry and choosing Subscribe). To activate this feature, select the Only tell me when this page is updated option.

It would be nice if there were a way to subscribe to multiple shortcuts with one operation, but it appears that you must subscribe to each site individually.

To check for changes in your subscribed shortcuts, choose Favorites, Update All Subscriptions. In Internet Explorer 5 .x, choose Favorites, Add to Favorites, then check Make available offline before clicking OK. Alternatively, you can right-click an entry on the list and choose Make available offline. To retrieve updated pages, simply choose Tools, Synchronize.

Ask a Champion for Netscape Help

Still resisting the urge to give in to the Dark Side and use Internet Explorer? Chances are you're using Netscape's Communicator suite, including the Navigator Web browser.

Netscape's own help files are often useful, but sometimes you need to ask an expert. The Netscape Unofficial FAQ contains the collected wisdom of the Netscape Champions. The site covers PC versions from 3.0 to 6.0, as well as Macintosh and Unix versions.

Send questions and tips to nettips@spanbauer.com. We pay $50 for published items. Scott Spanbauer is a contributing editor for PC World.