The Great Firewall of China, officially known as the Golden Shield project, uses a variety of methods to block foreign websites that the Chinese government doesn't like. The Chinese government does not publish a list of blocked sites, so it is not easy for foreigners to know whether your website is visible in China or not. However, there are several web-based tools that can quickly find it.
Free online firewall trial
A firewall is simply the first line of defense for the security of any system. As such, one should not rely solely on its ability to stop all potential threats floating around the Internet. All kinds of misfortunes can happen for which a firewall is as useful as hiding to cover a big explosion.
How to check if the firewall is working properly
Having a firewall installed but poorly configured is approximately equivalent to not having one and would be a potential danger since there are botnets or agents that constantly scan the network for open ports and unprotected services.
We are going to see how easy it is to test the effectiveness of our firewall in some online services and that they will be able to tell us in seconds if everything works as it should. They will tell us the status of the firewall ports and the response they send to the outside.
1. GRC Shields UP
You could say that Shields UP - from Gibson Research Corporation - has been my preferred firewall shopping service for years. This tool is accessible through the browser and allows you to discover vulnerabilities in 6 different areas:
- file sharing
- Common port scan
- All service port scan (all)
- messenger spam test
- Browser header test
- UPnP exposure test (analysis of exposure to vulnerability in this protocol)
Once we perform the port scan we will see a summary similar to this, where those colored in green are ports that do not report their status (they simply do not respond, the ideal case). They could also appear blue -closed- or red if they were open, the worst possible scenario.
For example, in the following image, we can determine that one of the ports preferred by hackers to attack -139, corresponding to the Windows Netbios service- is correctly secured and also does not send a response.
2. McAfee Hacker Watch
On the Hackerwatch website offered by McAfee we can also carry out several tests to check if the firewall is properly configured:
- easy tracking
- Port Analysis
The computer must be directly connected to the internet to receive notices from the tool. That is, if we are behind a proxy or NAT it will not work.
3. PC Flank – Advanced Port Scanner
This advanced port scanner is capable of testing open ports that could be used to attack us. We can choose several analysis techniques such as standard TCP or TCP SYN, in addition to being able to choose based on the ports:
- Typical Port Scans
- Scan ports vulnerable to Trojans
- Analysis of all the ports of the equipment
- 20 random ports
- Etc
Stealth test The same website allows us to test the possible filtering of the status of the ports analyzed (known as Leak test) as in other services such as GRC. Is your team visible from outside the network?
4. SG Security Scan
SG security gives us the option to perform a remote port scan to detect vulnerabilities. This service uses techniques similar to real attacks to try to sneak through the firewall (so that alerts could be triggered in it).
Once the tests are finished -we can also choose the ports manually- we will see a summary with the results.
5. Open ports test
On the test develocidad website and specifically in its port verification section, we will be able to know its status, which ones respond and which ones do not.
Getting around the Great Firewall of China
An alternative solution to access restricted sites and bypass the Great China firewall test is to download and sign up for a VPN service before entering mainland China. Going to Hong Kong to download VPN apps is one option as Hong Kong still retains its original laws regarding internet accessibility. Otherwise, ask a friend located in another country to send the VPN installation file directly. There are also web browsers, such as Firefox and Opera that have built-in VPN functionality that can be enabled for private browsing.
Using VPNs, however, typically slows down downloading and accessibility by 30 percent or more. Faster VPN services are more expensive. One major drawback is that your location appears to be from a different country, and this can cause login issues, especially for certain apps and websites that track login locations for security purposes. Message timestamps are also affected due to time zone differences with the country where the VPN server is located. Therefore, whenever you connect to a VPN, a best practice is to use a country as the server location and then stick to it. Using the same country each time is important to prevent your account from being locked due to suspicious access from another location.
QuickBooks error code 6144 occurs when the users are opening QuickBooks file on the application, and they do not open.
Simultaneously you can't perform any other task neither on the primary system and nor by logging on to other systems.
It is best that you get rid of this error as soon as possible.
The manual method of fixing this error has been provided below in detail and need of technical aid, you can ring up quickbooks technical support number to discuss the issue with the certified techies.
Before you start with the procedure, keep in mind the following guidelinesPlease note that all the steps that are given below, leaving aside the last step must be performed on the main system/computer.The QuickBooks application must be closed on all the systemsThe antivirus software should be disabled for a temporary purposeKnowledge about the MS office version you currently working onSince Qbserviceuser is dependent on the version, so for Microsoft Office 2013, you should for Qbserviceuser23, for 2015, Qbserviceuser 25.
The process to solve QuickBooks error 6144Click on the Start icon of the system and type ‘Services’ in the search bar.Now click on the Service tab and search for ‘QBCFMonitoringservice.Ensure that the ‘service status is started’ and the ‘startup type is Automatic.’ If not, then do these mandatory changes.
Firewalls are used to protect computers from unwanted intrusion.
They are installed on computer networks to prevent unauthorized people from accessing data.
They are also used to block malicious programs from accessing data.
Firewalls are commonly found at the network level, but they are also installed on individual computers.
In this blog learn about what is a firewall, the effects of a firewall, how it works, why do companies need it, and how it is used today
