Hello Linda,

Yes, you do "need a personal firewall". It's a common misconception
that firewalls are only for/effective if you have a broadband "always
on" connection. Not so. When you're connected to the Internet,
you're vulnerable. Dial-up connections can, and do, come under hack
attacks. In the blink of an eye, a hacker can access your computer or
spyware (that you may not be aware of) on your computer can
"phone home".

MailWasher, Ad-aware, Anti-Virus, and similar programs, are
designed for a specific purpose and most perform well, but they ARE
NOT firewalls. I urge you (and everyone) to visit Fred Langa's web
site http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/feb-14-00.htm and read
Don't Fall For The Four Myths Of Online Security. Then go to Steve
Gibson's web site at https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 and take
advantage of his ShieldsUP!! Services. That should be the only
convincing you need.

I've used ZoneAlarm (free and Pro version), for years and highly
recommend it http://www.zonealarm.com/. I'm not sure about the
current version, but some previous versions conflicted with AOL and
CompuServe (AOL), which is a story in itself, and for those
unfortunate folks I recommend Sygate Personal Firewall Standard (Free)
http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm.

Good luck and happy computing...

Sven Swanson, Sr.

At 08:18 PM 8/13/2003 -0500, you wrote:
I am not yet on DSL so do I need a personal firewall for my personal
computer? I do hope to be on DSL in a few months and I know I will
need it then. I hear lots of different opinions, so what does this group
say? I immediately downloaded updates for Windows and my anti-
virus software. You are always so helpful. Linda Crawford

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