file/printer sharing security???

[funkvibe]

LAN setup:
PIII 500mhz, Win98
AMD Duron 850Mhz, WinXP\Redhat 8.0
Linksys Router BEFSR41
Cable Internet

Before buying router:

I had a Win98 system that I enabled file/printer sharing. Everything was hooked up using a hub and Wingate to share internet. My cousin, who has extensive career experience with computers said that it was very dangerous to enable file/printer sharing because people might be able to access my network from the internet. What the heck was the point of me setting up a network if I can't use it to it's full capacity??? Is it really that dangerous? I had ZoneAlarm as a firewall at the time.

Now that I have a Linksys router, will it be safer to enable file/printer sharing on my Win98 system? Or is my cousin just extremely paranoid and over exaggerating???

[classicsoftware]

Now that you have a linksys router, I think you are pretty safe.. I think you cousin is a little paranoid.

If you go here (http://www.grc.com) you can use sheilds up to check your security. If your ports are listed as stealth, only the really sneaky can get on to your system. Unless you have nuclear secrets or a large amount of credut card numbers you are safe enough.

I still like to be cautious and I only share certain folders, not teh entire drive..

[mjc]

If you do have it enabled, you should use the firewalling capabilities of your router to limit it to the local network and not allow access to the internet.