full-disclosure - Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router safe ?

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Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:29:20 -0700
From: Steven Anders <anderstev@...il.com>
To: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
Subject: Dumb question: Is Windows box behind a router
	safe ?

I received great responses and am very grateful to the help from community
of this list. Thank you.

I have a dumb question: Is a Windows box behind a router safe ?

It is my father's PC and the Windows OS was not updated regularly. The
Windows box was connected through wire (RJ45) to the router. The router is
then connected to the DSL modem.
The Windows Box has SP2 installed and the default Windows firewall enabled -
and I think was last updated from Windows Update on in 2008. It has AVG anti
virus.
The PC was never moved anywhere and is always behind the router. The router
has default settings, which I believe has no ports open.

He never installed any applications or downloads anything off the net -
mainly it is used for emails and general web browsing (using Firefox, not
IE). I informed him to use Firefox, since IE has so many security issues.

My questions are:

1.  There are many exploits and vulnerabilities of Windows, but I was
wondering if outdated Windows box behind router generally safe ?  Since, the
Windows box was not updated with the latest updates.

I have always thought that having a computer behind the router (since router
has firewall) is generally safe, but I would love to hear insights or
thoughts.

2. If a Windows box is behind a router, could a botnet be installed to it ?
Assuming, the end user does not install/download any applications from the
Internet and always use Firefox.

Thank you all in advance.
steve

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