 psafuxPremium,VIP
join:2005-11-10
kudos:2 | reply to speeddream
Re: [DSL] To be Pingable or not? 3 different subjects Absolutely responding to ICMP traffic (ping) makes you more vulnerable and insecure (the system, not you personally but maybe!)
If I can ping an IP address and it responds, I know there's life at that IP. I can go further to find a backdoor or exploit depending on my expertise, time, and desire.
If I ping an IP and it does not respond, I have no idea if there is a machine at that IP. There may be, there may not be. I am more likely to continue to an IP that does respond unless I have specific reason to believe there IS a machine at that IP and the machine has something I specifically want.
Having ICMP response enabled or disabled will make no calculate-able difference to your internet usage. ICMP is a very, very low priority packet. In layman's terms, If you are busy doing something else with your connection, the ICMP request will be ignored over nearly any other type of packet simply by design. (This is precisely why ping is not always a good troubleshooting technique. Lost packets does NOT necessarily mean the system in question is down.)
Regarding the second question, what do you mean by 'lag time'. When opening the browser? Between websites? Loading certain content (java, etc), or something else entirely? FF tends to use more memory than other browsers and thus may be a tad slower due to that depending on your memory utilization or speed. Having BHO (browser helpers such as toolbars, addons, etc) may also slow the browser down and utilize more memory.
No clue on the 3rd Q - I have never and probably will never use a mac. I believe safari is popular. |
