hey all, maybe what i am about to do is entirely suicidal, but i just put my home lan on the net sort of permanently through a router (linux 2.2.17) and secured it with custom ipchains. i want to know how secure it is and so i am putting out a little contest... attached you can find my ipchains settings to be used with /sbin/ipchains-restore. you need the ipchains-restore script that i attached because of the comments in the file. have a look at it, tell me what you think. and to enable complete testing, i would like you to try to get into the system... there's nothing to get, it's basically just a test system so far. i don't have much to give, but if you manage to get in, i'd give you some copies of audio cds of your choice out of my collection of close to 800 albums. or i'll compile the best for you. just to award you for your time and effort... learning by doing is the best way to learn, so this is my learning ipchains. if you are interested in the above offer or just want to give it a shot, try using IP 193.159.110.151 to check my system. if the ip does not answer (ports 22 and 113 should be open), drop me a line and i will tell you a new one (it's dial-up dynamic ip). or else just give me your thoughts on my ipchains settings and/or this email. cheers and merry christmas, martin [greetings from the heart of the sun]# echo madduck@!#:1:s@\@@@.net -- "if beethoven's seventh symphony is not by some means abridged, it will soon fall into disuse." -- philip hale, boston music critic, 1837