I just installed a new Netgear wireless router with full security including not broadcasting SSID, it's password protected, firewall is running, and wireless user permission is based on MAC address.

My desktop(XP Home) is connected via cable and my laptop(XP Pro) is using the wireless. Both are using firewalls and antivirus software. I am sharing one folder and printer from the desktop to the laptop.

I ran a port scan at hackwatch.org and it's saying that port 80(HTTP) is open and unsecure on both computers. It states, "If this computer is not supposed to be acting as a web server, you should not have this port open." The website has no additional help.

I'm not familir with port settings. Is this a problem that I should fix? Is this a normal thing when using a wireless router to share one modem?

Thanks for any help.

Port 80 is needed by your webserver for internet access (HTTP). We've discussed this in the past. Read the thread below.

http://computing.net/security/wwwbo...

i_Xp/VistaUser

you have one tight security setup there. no worries about port80. its needed.

you have a little home network and have taken all the security steps possible to best lock it down. Nobody is going to waste there time trying to break all that just to access a home network i dont think.

your firewall will close all unnecessary ports all the time.

*D*

nosey aren't ya, readin me sig?

Thanks for the info and feedback. Greatly appreciated.

Both MAC filtering and not broadcasting SSID are useless precautions; they don't slow a hacker down at all. If he breaks the encryption on your transmitted packets these contain all the information he needs to break into your network. Use WPA encryption and a strong password (that you change every couple of months) and your WiFi security will be fine.

All ports including port 80 should be closed or even "stealthed" to outside attempts to connect to them for maximum security. A "closed" port will respond to connection attempts with a "Not accepting connections" message; a "stealthed" port will not respond at all. Some "security" scan sites will falsely identify port 80 or 8080 as open because they're communicating with your computer over it but this isn't true: your PC is initiating the traffic. Try a few more free security scan websites before you start worrying.

The only way to "hack" a properly firewalled network is to bypass the firewall. You accept an email with a trojan that isn't recognized by your AVS, you visit a website with malicious ActiveX script (thanks, Bill Gates!) that WinDozes isn't secured against, or you load a k3W1 hacked game that also installs malware. Unless your AVS recognizes the malware or you have a firewall that scans outgoing packets for "unknown" destinations you're still vulnerable.

Thanks for the info OrionCA.