[ale] how can a firewalled PC POSSIBLY be attacked?

[JD]

Humans write code and make hardware. We make mistakes. We do not think of all the attack vectors.  There are more protocols on a network than ICMP and IP. Many firewalls do not block those other protocols.

No device on a network is safe.  You are not paranoid enough.

"Ron Frazier (ALE)" <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:

>The discussion on vpn's and security at Emory prompted me to ask this. 
>This was prompted by some statements in another thread that a PC could
>be in danger if attached to unfiltered lan ports on Emory's network.
>
>Assume you have a PC connected directly to the internet.  It doesn't
>matter if it's linux, windows, mac, or android.  I'm speaking in
>conceptual terms.  Assume the PC is not running any server type
>programs, so it is not listening on any ports.  Assume no one is
>browsing to potentially malicious web pages, or even any web pages. 
>The PC is just sitting there idling.  Assume the PC has firewall
>software running.  The firewall's only job is to drop all packets that
>are not part of a response to an inquiry that this PC has issued.    I
>don't want to debate, at this point, the pros and cons of dropping all
>packets or operating in stealth mode.
>
>My question is, conceptually speaking, how can this PC POSSIBLY be
>vulnerable to any remote attack?  How could anything phase it?
>
>Then, how does the answer change depending on whether it is linux,
>windows, mac, or android.
>
>Finally, if it were behind a hardware firewall, or router, how could
>any unwanted packets get on the lan?
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Ron
>
>
>--
>
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>Ron Frazier
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>linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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-- 
Sent from a Linux system.
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