Norton Internet Securiity Blccks Without Notice

I was helping my roommate connect to the USC FTP server, bones.usc.edu, and we found that it didn’t work in either Internet Explorer nor SmartFTP, no matter what login info we used. (By the way, Internet Explorer is terribly vague and cryptic when it comes to FTP error messages. Use a real FTP client, please.) My first thought was that perhaps you needed to be connected to the USC VPN before you could access it. But on further inspection of the directions, it did not mention any such requirement. So I tried it from my computer, and lo and behold – it did work. I verified that he was connected via Ethernet, the same way I was, and then the thought struck me – check for firewalls.

Indeed, he had Norton Internet Security installed and running. This is essentially the same as the Symantec Client Security CE provided by USC ISD (Information Services Division). I don’t like the way this firewall works. It blocks access without notifying the user in any way. It blocked us from accessing any FTP server with any FTP client. This is unnecessary.

In the past, I’ve also noted that Symantec/Norton firewalls block all local area network traffic, such that other computers and printers cannot be accessed. Not only can they not access you, but you can’t access them. To further complicate matters, Symantec/Norton doesn’t even notify you when such traffic is blocked. I suppose it’s assumed.

Conclusion – if you have any connection difficulties with FTP or networking, make sure your firewall is disabled.