Yes, we strongly encourage the use of firewall protection for any dedicated Internet connection. Firewalls not only keep hostile apps from entering your PC from the outside, they also block hidden or unknown software on your PC (the sort a virus could install) from connecting to the Internet without your knowledge and giving away your valuable information.

Download and install FREE EZ Armor Security Software* provided by Computer Associates to Road Runner customers. You get FREE Anti-Virus protection, Firewall protection, Pop up Blockers, Anti-Spam, Anti-Spyware, product upgrades and updates, and web support* Please note: You must have the latest version of Flash Player** to download EZ Armor Security Software* from Road Runner.
*Subject to terms and conditions. Road Runner reserves the right to discontinue any feature or offer at any time. EZ Armor Security Suite software must be downloaded from the Road Runner National site.
*Spam and Virus protection software not available on Macintosh computers.

Maybe. Just because your computer is scanned doesn't necessarily mean someone is trying to hack into your system. Your computer was probably one of thousands that just got scanned looking for open ports. For example, in an effort to combat recent malicious computer viruses and worms like Nimda and Code Red, some Internet Service Providers routinely scan computers on their networks in an effort to identify systems at risk and proactively warn their customers that they are at risk.

You may receive a log entry (24.30.218.54) from National Security. This is a network scan from Road Runner. We do not enter any machine or look at any personal information. The purpose of this scan is to locate those subscribers who may be running unsecure proxies, mail servers with open relay enabled, other unauthorized servers, or who may have a Trojan Horse application running.

Try to judge the severity of the alarm. In many cases, your computer was probably scanned looking for open ports. A firewall is doing its job if detects, prevents and reports on possible intrusions. So, if your firewall has reported that an incident has occurred, you should feel comfortable that your firewall has also prevented intrusion.

If you repeatedly see attempts coming from the same IP address or computer you should be concerned.

If you get repeated port scans, harassing e-mail, or any other violation of our Operator Acceptable Use Policy that you can document as coming from a Road Runner customer, send a complaint to our Security Center at abuse@rr.com  In order to properly investigate a report of abuse, you must include detailed time stamped logs in plain text format. Road Runner will not accept logs that are not in plain text (ascii) format. Be sure to copy the information and paste it into the body of your message. Do not send attachments. Make sure your log files include the following information:

• Date of Incident
• Time of Incident
• Time Zone that logs are captured in
• Source IP Address or Host Name
• Destination IP Address or Host Name
• Destination Port
  
  (Note that because of privacy laws, we cannot disclose to you the identity of customers or what action we have taken.)
  

When you get any sort of attack from outside of the Road Runner domain, you should contact the Internet service provider that the attack came from. Most Internet service providers maintain e-mail addresses like "abuse@domain.com", where "domain.com" is the domain name where the attack came from. Include as much information as you can.