Jedi_Outcast
Really Really Experienced
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2002
- Posts
- 419
This is as good a starting point as any on internet security.
Lets start with the physical connections and work out way up
the four basic types are:
Phone line (MODEM) - This is what most of you are on, very slow. you have to connect to the internet before surfing. The most secure of the four connections.
Cable Modem - The Gold standard for insecure connections. You are sharing the cable pipe with your neighbors, they can see what you do, and you can see what they do. very fast, hackers love these connections. This runs over the same cable that brings the TV signal to your house.
Digital Subscriber Line - Not as fast as a cable modem, but because it is a direct link between you and the phone company, you are safe from the prying eyes of your neighbors. This runs over the same line that brings the phone in. also known as DSL, ADSL, an older version is called ISDN.
Dedicated Line - This is what businesses run. if you have one of these, you probably know more about this than I do.
these are the basic four, there are others, wireless, satellite etc. but they are few and far netween right now.
The phone line is the most secure of the four because you are not on it all the time. You dial up, do what you need, and hang up. Your internet address is always changing depending on when you call. You are a very fast moving target for hackers.
cable modems, DSL and dedicated lines are "allways on" connections. You sit at your computer fire up the web browser and you are surfing the net. Your internet address changes infrequently, you may have the same address for up to 30-60 days. this makes you an easy target, because they know where you are.
A lot of this may not make much sense right now, but as we go on it will become a lot clearer
next "Internet 102 - How computers talk to each other"
Please post with any comments/corrections
Lets start with the physical connections and work out way up
the four basic types are:
Phone line (MODEM) - This is what most of you are on, very slow. you have to connect to the internet before surfing. The most secure of the four connections.
Cable Modem - The Gold standard for insecure connections. You are sharing the cable pipe with your neighbors, they can see what you do, and you can see what they do. very fast, hackers love these connections. This runs over the same cable that brings the TV signal to your house.
Digital Subscriber Line - Not as fast as a cable modem, but because it is a direct link between you and the phone company, you are safe from the prying eyes of your neighbors. This runs over the same line that brings the phone in. also known as DSL, ADSL, an older version is called ISDN.
Dedicated Line - This is what businesses run. if you have one of these, you probably know more about this than I do.
these are the basic four, there are others, wireless, satellite etc. but they are few and far netween right now.
The phone line is the most secure of the four because you are not on it all the time. You dial up, do what you need, and hang up. Your internet address is always changing depending on when you call. You are a very fast moving target for hackers.
cable modems, DSL and dedicated lines are "allways on" connections. You sit at your computer fire up the web browser and you are surfing the net. Your internet address changes infrequently, you may have the same address for up to 30-60 days. this makes you an easy target, because they know where you are.
A lot of this may not make much sense right now, but as we go on it will become a lot clearer
next "Internet 102 - How computers talk to each other"
Please post with any comments/corrections
