Anyone using a firewall on their phone?

[Guest fraser]

Hey all,

OK, these phones are pretty connected. Maybe too connected if you ask me. I just did a port scan or two against my phone. Normally, with WiFi on, all ports 1-1500 were closed, which is OK, but you'd rather just have them not respond at all. With active sync connected, I got the following:

server:~# nmap -p 1-1500 192.168.1.4


Starting nmap 3.75 ( http://www.insecure.org/nmap/ ) at 2005-02-25 22:59 GMT

Interesting ports on spv (192.168.1.4):

(The 1499 ports scanned but not shown below are in state: closed)

PORT    STATE SERVICE

990/tcp open  ftps

MAC Address: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX (High Tech Computer)

(oh, so that's what HTC stands for!)

So, we have an open port. Kinda iffy when you are in a public access point. Everyone else in the access point can get at it, and if you have a "real" internet address, anyone in the world can get at it...

and Microsoft's history against overflow and DOS attacks is....

well let's just say it's not comforting. Will this be the portal of my first virus? (actually a worm, but let's not split hairs).

Anyway, I did a google, and guess what? There are folk selling firewall software, and a couple of free ones as well. So, I was wondering, does anyone here run one? If so, does it slow down your device much? What's your experience with them? A firewall hooks into the system at a low level, so a bad/buggy one could make your phone unstable. But a good one would not be noticed. Maybe. I'm familiar with TCP firewalls, is there also such a thing for BlueTooth? Is that needed/wise?

Any thoughts anyone?

Edited February 25, 2005 by fraser

[Guest Chaser81]

I tried the AirScanner one for a bit, but though I couldnt confirm it scientifically or anything, I swear it was running my battery down quicker. I took it off in the end.