how to open port_not firewall problem

[zakaro]

hi,

hopefully someone can help. i upgraded the security on my windows 2000 machine.. i used find.pcworld.com (http://scan.sygatetech.com/) and ran some tests which showed open ports etc....and made the necessary changes. unfortunatly did not document it and can not remember "which" changes....however, i know i imported a security policy but other changes i do not. i try to access my c-panel on my hosts server to get into the backend of my website and it will not open the page. it is not the server as others can view this page. i have tried completely disabling my zone alarm firewall and this does not help. i re-ran the tests on the scan.sygatetech.com site and seems that my security is definitely good and ports are blocked etc etc......BUT, i now need to open one particular port to access my website, webmail etc.

can anyone offer some advice on how i can open a port on my computer? also, it is not my isp either as they do not block the outgoing ports.

thanks greatly if you can help.

zakaro

[zakaro]

i also tried disabling the security policy and this did not work either.

calling all geniuses.....

zak

[CrazyM]

Hi zakaro

... and welcome to Wilders :)

{QUOTE-> ....and made the necessary changes. unfortunatly did not document it and can not remember "which" changes....however, i know i imported a security policy but other changes i do not. <-QUOTE}
Can you tell us anything more about this security policy you imported?

Regards,

CrazyM

[zakaro]

The security police is ipsechome.ipsec. I tried re-setting my security policy settings back to default but this did not help.

i know i made some changes in regards to ports as i had some open or listening or so. they are all definitely closed now. not sure if it was the security policy. there were a few tests i ran and various changes i made.

[CrazyM]

Have you tried un-assigning (disable) the IPSec policy you created via the MMC console?

Regards,

CrazyM

[zakaro]

yes, in the administrative panel under security....IP security policies on local machine...-all tasks - i clicked restore default policy.

This had no effect.

[CrazyM]

Is the policy you created still showing? Or did you modify one of the default policies?
Try stopping the IPSec service and see if this helps and might help determine if it is an IPSec policy causing this.

Regards,

CrazyM

[zakaro]

under

Security Settings

I can choose

Account Policies
Local Policies
Public key policies
Ip Security Policies on local machine.

I changed it back to the default on Ip security policies on local machine.

Which one do I use to disable the policy? Under the main folder - Security settings - i can either import or export a policy. Under each of the four categories of the security settings there are more folders which i can open and there are some further folders.

[zakaro]

under the Ip security policies on local machine... assuming this is the correct place to change or deactivate the policy.. i can select - from the task option -

create ip security policy
manage ip filter list and filter actions
check policy intengrity
restore default policies
import policies
export policies


it was the restore default policies that i used.

[CrazyM]

When you select IP Security Policies on Local Computer are you showing anything in addition to the default 3 (image attached)?

Also did you try stopping the IPSec service if it is running?

Regards,

CrazyM

[zakaro]

this is what i show. i do not know how to stop the service.

[zakaro]

allright, i disabled the

ip rules for home use....and VIOLA....it worked and i can access the page! great and thank you.

But, what did i disable in fact? Does this mean that now my ports are again wide open? Can I somehow not modify the settings to keep the security or some security rather than enabling and disabling when i want to work with my website?

what do you suggest in order to retain a high level of security on my computer? I see that i can enable this again....but, i do not see how i can play with the settings. also, i do not really understand what rules it is that i am disabling or enabling.

and thanks!!
zak

[CrazyM]

Hi Zak

{QUOTE-> allright, i disabled the ip rules for home use....and VIOLA....it worked and i can access the page! great and thank you. <-QUOTE}
Good to hear you are able to connect again and narrow it down to the IPSec policy.

{QUOTE-> But, what did i disable in fact? Does this mean that now my ports are again wide open? Can I somehow not modify the settings to keep the security or some security rather than enabling and disabling when i want to work with my website? <-QUOTE}
While IPSec policies are more commonly used for secure connections/authentication, you can also define a custom policy that will work like a packet filter/firewall to define what network traffic will be permitted on the system. It was likely a pre-defined policy you downloaded and implemented on your system. These policies can be edited (double click your "IPrules for home use" or right click > properties). To start doing this you should have a good understanding of what network connections your system will require and how the policy/rules work. Otherwise you could run into problems with things not working or leaving yourself vulnerable. One of the drawbacks of using an IPSec policy in this way is the lack of logging to trouble shoot and help with configuration.

{QUOTE-> what do you suggest in order to retain a high level of security on my computer? <-QUOTE}
You mentioned that you are using ZA which should protect your system fine without the need of running a custom IPSec policy. Do you have any concerns that ZA it not meeting your firewalling needs?

Regards,

CrazyM