Computer question

[RED-DOG]

Mrs Red gets this firewall message, what does it mean?


A computer at RED-DOG  has attempted to access one of your system ports (TCP port 139).  If you want to allow traffic on this port, it must be selected in the "System Services" tab in the Options dialog.
TCP port 139 is commonly used by the "NETBIOS Session" service or program. NetBIOS is used for Windows file sharing.  It can be exploited to access files on your computer.

Your computer is being protected from this type of potential attack.

[Mango99]

If there doesn't seem to be anything wrong, I'd just click the "ignore this message in future", or "do not show this message again" option. Firewalls tend to pop up all manner of gibberish and information boxes, most of it is safe to ignore.

[RED-DOG]

So why does it refer to me by name, i.e. my blonde alias?

[lazaroonie]

Mrs Red gets this firewall message, what does it mean?


A computer at RED-DOG  has attempted to access one of your system ports (TCP port 139).  If you want to allow traffic on this port, it must be selected in the "System Services" tab in the Options dialog.
TCP port 139 is commonly used by the "NETBIOS Session" service or program. NetBIOS is used for Windows file sharing.  It can be exploited to access files on your computer.

Your computer is being protected from this type of potential attack.

need to know a bit more about your setup Red,

Do you have more than one computer "sharing" an internet connection via a router, either wirelessly or wired ?

Do you have any devices attached to one of the computers which you share with other computers - eg printers etc ?


I would be very wary about allowing access via port 139, specifically because it is port 139.

[RED-DOG]

Mrs Red gets this firewall message, what does it mean?


A computer at RED-DOG  has attempted to access one of your system ports (TCP port 139).  If you want to allow traffic on this port, it must be selected in the "System Services" tab in the Options dialog.
TCP port 139 is commonly used by the "NETBIOS Session" service or program. NetBIOS is used for Windows file sharing.  It can be exploited to access files on your computer.

Your computer is being protected from this type of potential attack.

need to know a bit more about your setup Red,

Do you have more than one computer "sharing" an internet connection via a router, either wirelessly or wired ?

Do you have any devices attached to one of the computers which you share with other computers - eg printers etc ?


I would be very wary about allowing access via port 139, specifically because it is port 139.

we share a router, but not devices.

[Mango99]

So why does it refer to me by name, i.e. my blonde alias?

This will be because you have named your computer "RED-DOG", or if you have a network that could be the name you've given the network, or another computer on the network.

To find out the name of your computer, right click the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, select "Properties". Now choose the "Computer Name" tab, and you'll see a page with info like:

Computer description,
Full computer name,
Workgroup

I'd guess one of those is "RED-DOG".

Use this utlity to check the overall security of your system:
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[RED-DOG]

So why does it refer to me by name, i.e. my blonde alias?

This will be because you have named your computer "RED-DOG", or if you have a network that could be the name you've given the network, or another computer on the network.

To find out the name of your computer, right click the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, select "Properties". Now choose the "Computer Name" tab, and you'll see a page with info like:

Computer description,
Full computer name,
Workgroup

I'd guess one of those is "RED-DOG".

Use this utlity to check the overall security of your system:
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

So why is my computer trying to access mrs Red's?

[Mango99]

So why does it refer to me by name, i.e. my blonde alias?

This will be because you have named your computer "RED-DOG", or if you have a network that could be the name you've given the network, or another computer on the network.

To find out the name of your computer, right click the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, select "Properties". Now choose the "Computer Name" tab, and you'll see a page with info like:

Computer description,
Full computer name,
Workgroup

I'd guess one of those is "RED-DOG".

Use this utlity to check the overall security of your system:
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

So why is my computer trying to access mrs Red's?

Sorry, no idea on that one...

[Decider]

Perhaps you have a virus on your PC that is attempting to hack ports on other PC's in your network.