Security gain from NAT (was: Re: Cool IPv6 Stuff)

Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu writes:

Let's not forget all the NAT boxes out there that are *perfectly* willing to let a system make an *outbound* connection. So the user makes a first outbound connection to visit a web page, gets exploited, and the exploit then phones home to download more malware.

Yeah, that NAT *should* be providing security, but as you point out, there's that big gap between should and is... :)

I will happily (well ...) further concede that NAT does not provide *absolute* security. Let me be the first to mention that NAT provides precisely zero protection against: "Hey, kids, just download and run this .EXE to see a cute cartoon of Santa dancing with a polar bear" :-). Jim