After I started the gVim text editor on a Windows laptop, I saw a "firewall alert" from the Symantec antivirus/firewall software on the system stating "Suspicious network activity has been detected." I've used gVim on many other systems for many years, but those systems weren't running the Symantec security software. The Symantec software showed that gvim.exe was attempting a Domain Name System (DNS) query to port 53, the well-known port for DNS, to IP address 8.8.8.8, the Google DNS server specified on the system for DNS queries.

[ More Info ]

[/network/ocsp] permanent link

I opened HTTPNetworkSniffer, a packet capture tool developed by Nir Sofer and available from his NorSoft site, today on a Microsoft Windows system. While it was open I visited this website using the Firefox browser on the system and happened to switch back to the HTTPNetworkSniffer window where I noticed an unexpected connection to gn.symcd.com.

[More Info ]

[/network/ocsp] permanent link