Computer help???

[31Streetrod]

Can any of you computer gurus out there shed some light on this..........My Norton anti-virus program gives me a notification of "vulnerability blocked", from, 58.218.199.147, attack name: portscan, application: /mach_kernel

This notification pops up 3 to 6 times a day. What's going on????

[fatboylust]

Google search the topic vulnerability blocked, from, 58.218.199.147 There is a bit of information but I didn't see and thing you can do about it.

[Chucks Stude]

This may not work for you, but I have taken Norton out of my computer, it takes about 5 minutes, and replaced it with Microsoft Security Essentials. It is free, and does not intrude on your operating system as much as Norton. You update, and scan just like Norton. You just download it from the Microsoft Web Site.

[PlainBrownR2]

It's pretty simple, well for me anyway . Basically what it's telling you is:
58.218.199.147 - The IP address where the attack is coming from (Basically like the home address for a computer on the Internet). If there's a register somewhere on Norton, I would add that in, so that the block comes automated. It should diminish all of the notifications on this particular address.

attack name: portscan - The type of attack that was detected, which in this case was looking for an open port on your PC. Whoever was doing the attack will use these as a supplement to popups, spam, trojans, viruses, and whathaveyou

application: /mach_kernel - This is the application that the attack was directed towards on your PC, or where the attack was being routed to. Even though it's a common application to attack, being an item with the word "kernel" in it, I wouldn't take that too lightly since this application may be one of the things that makes the operating system work like it should.

The Norton program did, or should do, what most of these programs do. It maintains a listing of IP addresses to block, or looks for certain parameters or programs that are being used to block an IP address. When something is detected, it blocks it and logs it and tells you that it was blocked.

[Cravin]

Nortons firewall was notifying you that it blocked a portscanner. If you connect to the internet without a software or hardware firewall to protect your computer, chances are good of getting a virus. I would recomend a router between your broadband modem and your computer. A router provides a hardware firewall that is pretty secure because it wont respond to "pings" from the outside of your network.

[PlainBrownR2]

Exactly, that's the behavior of a firewall . If you have anything tied to the Internet, especially if it's always on, a firewall is never a bad idea as it keeps most of the bad stuff out, and provides a go between, between the PC and the rest of the world.