Need computer security help/suggestions.

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here’s the situation:

3 computers networked together, 2 running Win 98 and one Win XP. They currently connect via dialup and through AOL, now they are getting DSL and it is my job to ensure no nasty stuff creep on their systems. Due to old DOS based programs I can’t move them past win 98 on those 2 computers (yes they are slowly replacing those programs, but it won’t happen soon enough).

I need to hook them up in the safest way. I think I will go with a hardware based router/‘firewall’ as a start. I was considering then having it go just to the XP computer (after installing a 2nd LAN card) and bridging the connection to the current LAN, but would that provide any extra protection?

Also how can I get a firewall, such as ZoneAlarm, to block only the bad internet stuff while not interfering with the LAN?

2

Make sure you have SP2 on the XP machine. I would not make the XP machine host the other two machine’s internet connections. Get a home network router that is capable of sharing the internet connection and connect each to the router. It’s quicker, and the XP machine won’t be such a sloth.

Zone Alarm can run on each machine without conflicting with the router. In addition, if you don’t have virus protection, look into the freeware version of Avast. Every machine should also have Spybot Search and Destroy as well as Adaware.