[Bobby777]

OK guys ... read your messages ... educate me ... why does a telecom ping my computer ports? what is it that it does?

[Keith in Iowa]

A ping is the networking world equivalent of a knock on the door - one device looking to see if there's something there on a particular IP address.

[Bad~Rodeo]

Here's a ping from Buenos Aires....L~ 24.232.154.20

[petuniasevan]

Why? Some companies are checking for their own subscribers' traffic. Others may be looking for a certain pattern of site usage (some of these companies are hired by your favorite Internet addys to do just that). It's a lot like the way you get on junk mailing lists.

[Landru]

"OK guys ... read your messages ... educate me ... why does a telecom ping my computer ports? what is it that it does?"

I'd like to know about this, too.
I can hear my HD grinding away periodically; and of late, a lot more than usual.
When I had AOL, I tried the freeware firewall, "Black Ice" (I think it was called...).
But it interferred with AOL so bad I had to uninstall.
Now I've a cable modem & am wondering if trying BI or another type would be OK because there's some weird crap going on.

~Like right *now*, for example.

[Flyer]

If you want to check your firewall security try Steve Gibson's Shields Up!

With a good firewall like ZoneAlarm you computer won't even appear to exist.

[TheLurkerX]

Don't worry about it. There are scanners on the internet, all over the world, running port scans 24/7. You'll see them alot. Just keep you firewall up, and you'll be ok.