I installed a WRT54G with ZoneAlarm firewall program way back in XP. When I use it in Dapper I always wonder about firewall protection. Have checked my ports and system with Hackerwatch.org/probe (thanks to these Ubuntu pages for info on that!) and it seems my ports, etc are invisible to outside world, but my question is do I still need to use iptables, firestarter, etc? I don't know just how much protection I'm getting with my router alone. My router firmware was upgraded through Windows, when I first installed it and I need to run both Ubuntu and Windows on the same machine. By the way I also have Spamassassin and ClamAV to protect both myself and my emailing friends, although I'm still in process of getting acquainted with making sure those progs are running ok. I don't have any experience with firewalls in linux. Seems to run fine but I'm unsure about my linux security. Many thanks.

It sounds like the firewall in the router itself is working fine if your ports aren't visible.

If you're concerned about additional security you can always setup an additional firewall on your machine. Firestarter is pretty handy for setting it up.

Using just your Linksys router for security would be OK for a home setup. If the Linksys router that you have still has the default firmware installed, the the router is using SPI to look at incoming packets which should be more than enough security.

Many thanks for the advice. I've never been really sure if I've been protected. Now I know. I'm sure some other relative newbies will be happy to find out as well. Cheers