Which one of these protocols would stop me from accessing secure sites if they were blocked: ICP, NIS, PING, or PPTP?
I checked my firewall at GRC.com and it had some problems with "Ping" and some other things and I blocked the ones listed and couldn't get into my bank or into "Shields Up" at GRC. So I permitted them all and got in. I'm trying to narrow it down. Thanks.

None, the protocol for secure websites is https (port 443). Even then you only need that open for outgoing traffic. Most home users who just want to use the Internet but not run any servers should just be able to block everything incoming.

Thanks for the reply. So I should be able to block all those with no effect on access to the sites mentioned? I wonder what happened then. I also noticed something else I never had to do before, after changing protocols in GD I had to reboot to have them take affect, that is, when I unblocked them w/o rebooting I couldn't access those sites, but after rebooting I could.

Uninstall shorewall using menu->Software->Configuration->Packaging. It might still be interfering with your guarddog rules

I uninstalled shorewall and checked again at GRC, here's what I got:
Solicited TCP Packets: RECEIVED (FAILED) — As detailed in the port report below, one or more of your system's ports actively responded to our deliberate attempts to establish a connection. It is generally possible to increase your system's security by hiding it from the probes of potentially hostile hackers. Please see the details presented by the specific port links below, as well as the various resources on this site, and in our extremely helpful and active user community.



Unsolicited Packets: PASSED — No Internet packets of any sort were received from your system as a side-effect of our attempts to elicit some response from any of the ports listed above. Some questionable personal security systems expose their users by attempting to "counter-probe the prober", thus revealing themselves. But your system remained wisely silent. (Except for the fact that not all of its ports are completely stealthed as shown below.)



Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) — Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP Echo) requests, making it visible on the Internet. Most personal firewalls can be configured to block, drop, and ignore such ping requests in order to better hide systems from hackers. This is highly recommended since "Ping" is among the oldest and most common methods used to locate systems prior to further exploitation.

What port(s) did it respond on? Have you read through the docs: http://www.simonzone.com/software/gu...al2/index.html

Thanks for the link. I have to study it. I guess I'm dense. What's the difference between "blocked" and "rejected"? It shows that all is stealthed (green) except one that is blue (blocked).