Port Fowarding, Remote access and Security Breach 1

[muhilla]

I have seen good material on connecting remotely to a computer on my LAN using an XP machine and port forwarding on my linksys BEFSR81 to a designated machine. I'm trying to get this to work, but the question is: once I get it working how vulnerable am I to a hacker? Is the network still password protected? What is the best way to keep my network safe without going a VPN route. Thanks!
Muhilla

 

[bcastner]

I have not seen any 3389 attacks, as you know there has to be a machine running a remote server client and the one trying to connect must have a valid username and password.

When the remote client is not running, there is no answer on your network if someone tries to call.

 

[muhilla]

Thanks bcastner for your response. I really appreciate it! Quick Q. Any idea why I can not ping my WAN address on my router from outside of my network? I have "Block WAN request diabled". Thanks!
Muhilla

 

[bcastner]

Many, many ISPs are currently blocking all ICMP traffic as part of an anti-worm effort.

That would be my guess as to the reason why. One or both of the ISPs involved are blocking the ping.

 

[muhilla]

Thanks again. I got the ping working, but still can not get RDS to function properly. First attempt, so I am on the learning curve. I seem to access the router fine, but can not for the life of me logon. I'll keep doing a search for the solution, but if I can't find it you'll see me posting again soon. I appreciate your responses.
Muhilla

P.S. I am really more of a "Technical User" than an "IS/IT manageme" Do you know how to change this? I trid in the profile, but no luck. I wouldn't want people assuming I know more than I do.