File & Print share security issues

File and printer sharing is part of the Microsoft networking that enables you to share files and printers with other people. Now it also can do this over the internet, a fact most people are not aware of. This means if you have not chose to use a password on your shares, *ANYONE* on the internet can browse/run/delete files from your computer...or even print on your printer!!

* This is also how many internet trojans/virii transmit and infect users, such as the QaZ virus or Nimda which had infected many DSL users who had open shares. Viruses/Trojans today are mostly all "network-Aware" Meaning, they have the ability to infect every machine in a local network if even one gets infected. They can also spread rapidly over the internet.

If you don't plan on sharing your computer's files/printers with other people, you may need to have a look in your network properties by right clicking on the "Network Neighborhood" Icon on your desktop. If your computer has file/printer sharing installed and enabled it would be a good idea to disable/remove it.

If you do plan on sharing files, you should install a good anti-virus and Firewall. Especially if you are using peer-to-peer file sharing programs, like napster, kazaa, Morpheus, Limewire etc.. These put you at risk if they are improperly configured, or if you contract a virus made specifically to exploit them.

Basic Windows Networking properties

Some of the components you show may be different, but we'll be talking about "common" things. If this was your network properties and you haven't been or don't plan to share your local computer's hard drive or printers with some other computer, then there are a few things you should get rid of to prevent undesirable access to your machine.

First click on File and Print sharing button shown above. Both options should be "UN checked" so you are not sharing either your files or printers. Then select TCP/IP and choose Properties then Bindings you will see the following screen

You should "UN check" file and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks. Then Click "OK" Assuming you don't want to share files over the network, you can Highlight File and Printer sharing for Microsoft networks then select "Remove", this will prevent accidental enabling of the File/Printer Sharing feature by you or anyone else. Of course at some later time, if you choose to share things over the net, you can always add them back in. There are even ways to allow file and printer sharing in your local network, while blocking anyone from the outside from accessing it or even knowing it's there! Very simple ways to accomplish this is through the use of personal firewalls, or network card configuration. The easy way is to make your local network's IP a reserved IP such as 10.0.0.10, Then permit netbios ports 137, 138,139 to be used by the range of 10.0.0.xxx IP's within your personal network's firewall.

You can easily check the security of your machine at any of the Security Testing Sites just to be sure that you have removed everything properly. As always, if you're in doubt about it, please feel free to send an e-mail to: doshelp@doshelp.com and I will be happy to answer any of your questions regarding your PC's security.

Risk factor: By having file/printer sharing enabled on windows 95, 98, 98 SE and even some poorly configured/Default settings in windows NT/2000/XP system, you run the risk that someone...somewhere will have access to your system. The other problem is someone could use that access to cause your machine to become a gateway or "scapegoat" for their illegal activity and leave you to blame for it. You should also not think that just because you have put a password on your windows 9x shares that you are completely safe. There are programs that intruders can use to 'guess' or just plain break your password to gain entry.

Note: Recent trends support that a machine which can be easily compromised will be used by spammers. They install software which sets up your machine to send out SPAM. While they safely hide, you get blamed. be sure if you're eveer accused of SPAMMING and you didnt send it, have your ISP's tech support/security department help you identify any potential software in your startup which may be the cause.