home networking/internet sharing

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin (More info?)

From: "T1J" <T1J@discussions.microsoft.com>

| My sister has a laptop which she use on college dorm room/classes and she
| usually use the college highspeed connection wirelessly. I'm Planning to get
| dsl or other highspeed connection, so i can share my internet connection with
| my sister laptop. My question is if she get infected by a virus, trojan, or
| other malicous software will my computer get infected too?

Yes you can do what you ask if you get Broadband and a wireless Router.

And yes, viruses can spread over wireless networking. Trojans however are not like Internet
worms and viruses in that they don't spread by themsleves (aka, self replicate) and need the
assistance of the user.

As with *any* kind of Internet access, you need to protect yourself. Start with Safe Hex
practices.
http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html

You will still need anti virus and other anti malware applications. You would also need to
secure the wireless Internet connection or you will be the subject of "War Driving". In
that case someone can pull in front of your house with a car and a notebook and either get
your personal information to use against you or will use your Internet connection for
nefarious purposes. In that case YOU would be held responsible for their action.

As an additional note, a notebook used in a college setting has a very high probability of
being/getting infected. Having it connected on a home/SOHO LAN leaves your security at a
more compromised level.

--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
http://www.ik-cs.com/got-a-virus.htm