Online Safety Lab I

CS 102

Sept. 20, 2004

Introduction

This lab will help us discover:

1. How effective our firewall protection is and what information our Web browsers are willing to reveal about us.

2. What limitations a software license agreement places over us.

3. How an online payment system works and how effectively it protects our privacy.

Lab

1. Visit Gibson Research at http://grc.com/default.htm and scroll down to ShieldsUP!. Click on the ShieldsUP! link, scroll down to the ShieldsUP!! Services and run both the ``File Sharing'' and the ``Common Ports'' tests. What firewall vulnerabilities did these tests reveal? Not all firewalls will protect against all possible attacks. This is a good test to run after installing or changing a personal firewall.

   Answer:

2. The relationship between the Goucher network, Goucher firewall, and the Internet looks like this:

   

   The Gibson Research web site is on the Internet. Thus, it would have tested the Goucher firewall and any firewall installed on the PC from which you ran their two tests. With the relationship diagrammed, the Gibson tests could indicate that you're safe when you might actually still be vulnerable. Why might you still be vulnerable?

   Answer:

3. Visit Privacy.net at http://privacy.net/ and click the link near the top that says ``For a full analysis click here.'' The site will show you how much information your computer is willing to reveal when you visit a Web page that asks for this information. Did it detect your operating system correctly? Do you think a Web page really needs to know your operating system? Why or why not? Did it detect the color of your hair correctly?

   Answer:

4. A copy of the End User License Agreement for Microsoft Office is available at
   http://phoenix.goucher.edu/~kelliher/f2004/cs102/eula.pdf. (Go to the online HTML version of the lab and click on this link --- it may save you some typing.)

   Are you allowed to install this software on more than one computer? Are you allowed to resell the software under any circumstances? Is there any part of the agreement that you disagree with strongly? Why?

   Answer:

5. Visit PayPal at http://www.paypal.com/. How does it work? What do you need to set up an account? Is the sign-up page secure or not? What information does PayPal disclose to third parties?

   Answer: