How do you test your router/firewall for security?

[Chris Brenton]

Larry Cook wrote:
> Now that I've moved to DSL, I was looking for ways to test the security 
> of my router/firewall.  I'm going to use ShieldsUp! (http://grc.com), 
> but was wondering what other tools were available.

Tom's recommendation of having a friend poke your perimeter is probably 
your best bet. Scott's site is cool, provieded you expect everything to 
be be closed. If you do have any open ports its nice to have a sanity 
check to verify that the listening service is secure as well.

> When using a dialup connection, I felt pretty safe because of the 
> seperation of my network and the internet,

Bad idea. :(
Many Nimda, Code Red, Slammer, etc. etc. system were dial-up systems. 
The record I'm aware of from a system getting plugged into a network to 
getting fully rooted is 7 seconds (Geroge Bakos up at Dartmouth). If you 
are plugging in, you need to stay protected.

> I guess it's more that I have 
> confidence in iptables and ZoneAlarm, but this Actiontec router is a 
> blackbox to me, so I don't really have much confidence in it.

You can always run Linux in bridging mode behind the router.

HTH,
C