Hi, I have an ADSL connection and have always wondered why there is traffic activity even when I am not using any internet related programs. I always notice the dial-up networking icon (the two green computer icons in the system tray) flashing after I connect to suggest there is activity - but I have not internet programs running. This got me a little concerned, so I installed Zone Alarm to see what was going on. As soon as it was installed it (about five minutes ago), I have received hundreds of alerts at the steady rate of about 3 per second. I clicked on "more info" on the alert box which took me to the Zone Alarm site. This reported that the related port is commonly used with edonkey, so it is probably ok. But as I dont have edonkey open at the moment, I am wondering why I am getting all these alerts. Any help on this would be much appreciated as I would like to protect my pc at all times if possible. Thanks, DG

Don't know the answer to your question but if Zone Alarm is fending them off then your pc is protected. I realise that this maybe an extreme case (hence your interest) but in general I tend to not worry too much about what a firewall is preventing. To do so is rather like having a dog and barking yourself, if you see what I mean. Hope you find the reason just the same. Derek

Go toStart/Run and type msconfig. Check the Startup tab for any suspicious programs. Reference the following sites for help in identification: Startup programs list http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Running_items.htm http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm#Select http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/startlist.htm Keep ZoneAlarm running!

Just configure Zone Alarm to not notify you of the alerts. It will still block the intrusions.

I've used Zone Alarm for a while. He's correct you can turn off the messages and still have it block the intrusions. Have uninstalled Zone Alarm and am using another freeware forewall called agnitu,m which seems to do the trick. Apparently comsidered by some to be better than the free ZA.

Thanks for the replies guys. I have since disconected and re-connected and have found that there are now only about 4 alerts per minute. I know most people are just happy leaving Zone Alarm on in the backround, but I would like to know a little more about what it is actually doing. As I currently know nothing about internet security, I dont know if Zone Alarm is actually protecting me, so I am hoping someone here can help me out a little. Firstly, how can you determine whether or not you are being targeted by a hacker? Secondly, I have instructed zone alarm to allow connections to programs such as kazzaa, edonkey, internet explorer and outlook, so I presume this will leave many ports open. Doesnt this mean that hackers will be able to use them now? I have now left zone alarm running in the backround (alerts off), yet I dont feel at all safe as I have little understanding of how it works. So any advice or extra info would be much appreciated. Thanks, DG

In the normal way, leaving Zone Alarm at it's original settings means you can pretty well sit back and be sure you are protected - no log or alerts really necessary. It is obviously safe to allow such things as IE & OE outgoing plus any legitimate updates to programs (both ways), such as AV, Ad-Aware and so on. I know little about edonkey but it certainly seems (from what I've read here) that Kazza is spyware ridden - not the sort of thing that I would personally wish to allow. I also read that KazzaLite is safer. It's some time since I used ZA but perhaps it can be run where things like Kazza are only allowed on a dynamic Permit/Deny basis (as required), rather than invoking continuous permission. Derek