On 31 Jan 2006 at 16:33, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Dear David Gillett:
> You stated:  
> 2.  Install a software firewall, such as Zone Alarm (which is available in a free version), 
> which will actually block a variety of nasty stuff -- including Messenger Service pop-ups.
> I have had McAfee Personal Firewall, why doesn't that block it because it came up and I had the Firewall already installed?
> Thanks for your response, in advance,
> Karen Thacker

  The short answer is:  I don't know for certain.

  The longer answer is that firewalls have a configuration somewhere which 
tells them what to allow and what to block.  The firewall comes with a basic 
default configuration, which can be modified over time.
  Configuration modifications typically happen in one of three ways:

1.  You, or a program, try to do something, and the firewall isn't sure 
whether to block it or not, so it asks, and so it learns about exceptions to 
the default policy.

2.  There may be a user configuration option where you can manually edit the 
firewall rules.

3.  Some malware can intercept or manipulate #1 or #2 to create the 
exceptions it wants.

  #3 can happen if the machine got infected before the firewall was 
installed, or if the firewall has been disabled for a while.

David Gillett

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