7th February 2001

Coming from the "Doc Oc" Department, another Lockergnomaniac warns of a potential security threat. In past issues, I've pointed out that an external Cable / DSL router can block unwarranted incoming Internet traffic better than software. This is very much true; however, your (default) IP address is a number which "script kiddies" find all too familiar. Changing 192.168.1.1 to any non- enabled IP octet (such as 10.0.0.1 or 192.1.1.25) on the 255.255.255.0 subnet should provide enough protection. You see, any IP that starts with 192, 10, or 127 is not in the master routing tables and is an unfowardable address. Some of those goofballs assume you're not going to change your default IP address, so reassign the switch to something like 192.168.0.99. (keeping "192.168" in place). Telnet attempts will be thwarted, and your connection should remain out of harm's way. Again, this information came to me from a network-knowledgeable Gnomie.