My security log from my sygate personal firewall now is constantly showing port scans. The start and end time is the same and the scan is tagged as minor. I am assuming that all the attacker did was scan the ports and the firewall did not let them. Is that correct.Most of the time it will have maby 10-15 scans within a short time of the same attacker.Does this mean that the firewall kept them out? Marshall

Yes - it shows your firewall is doing its job - the log is just to show you what went on V...

Hello Marshall, Yes Of course, when you have minor reports attacks mentionned, it's mean that people don't access into your computer. Sygate is a wonderful and performant program I use since years.... and I want to say since I have this program installed, I never had any trouble with my computer... I am permanently stealth. Don't worry about minors attemps, most of the time it's robot's from web sites you visit trying to figure which kind of computer you use and which are your favorites web sites visited.... This is what they call Statistics... Sygate Firewall

Thanks a lot. I thought that was what it ment.My sygate works great. I never have had a problem with my computer. with my norton,sygate,adaware and housecall online scant its stayed tip top. Thanks to all those guys. reguards Marshall

If the scans show in your Traffic or Packet logs for ports like 80 and 139 it'll be trojan/virus scans. You'd be entitled to worry if your firewall WASN'T showing any such minor scans. Full marks for choosing Sygate.

What happens if you allow an online game access through your firewall in order to play, does that mean there is now an open port which can be exploited?

No, contrary to what many will tell you, an open port is only a serious exposure if a program or Windows service is "listening" on it, and can be made to perform some action which allows further outside access. Online gaming is pretty secure, generally. Some ports have important functions in W2K and XP, and viruses & trojans automatically target these . These ports MUST be blocked by a firewall. However even these nasties most commonly get in via email or filesharing networks. There are some ways of crashing Windows if a port is open, but that's not a security issue, it's an annoyance.