EV> I started using the FortKnox firewall and every hour at 42 minutes
 EV> after the hour FortKnox pops up with an Adobe Flash Update request.

that's what i've read...

 EV> Just after I started using FortKnox I used a 2nd pc to see who is
 EV> sending these requests to me by entering the IP in at
 EV> https://ipdb.at and it says Akamai Technologies is the owner of the
 EV> 23.61.162.70 IP address.

yes, it is... they are a huge content provider...

 EV> It isn't Adobe but Akamai, and I'm wondering if the request is for
 EV> real or not.

they are not sending it to you without something requesting it on your
machine... i suspect that your adobe install is trying to see if there's an
update available and it looks like there is...

to confirm this, you can go into your adobe reader's config and find the
updates option... uncheck it and you should not get those popup requests
any more... it sounds like fortknox is operating like the old kerio
personal firewall or zonealarm in that they will ask you about outbound and
inbound requests... i still run kerio but it was purchased years ago by an
antivirus company in florida... they have the vipre suite of protection
tools...

 EV> So I clicked on the Flash icon in XP Control Panel and used it to
 EV> see what version of Flash I have, and then I clicked on the link on
 EV> that tab to see what version Adobe Flash is offering currently and
 EV> I see it is the same version that is on my XP box.

it may be a bug fix version... there are several dots in the version
numbers and not all of them are shown all the time...

eg: you might see 9.5.2 when it is really something like 9.5.2.3413 and the
update is going to take you to 9.5.2.4651...

 EV> So every hour when I get the alert I click No.
 EV> Yes, I know I could Check the Checkbox before clicking No but since
 EV> I'm still learning how to 'TRAIN' FortKnox I'm just clicking the No
 EV> button every hour when FortKnox asks me about it.

that's the best way... that way you don't do something wrong and then have
to try to figure out how to go undo it and get it done the way you really
want it to be ;)

 EV> At least the pop up reminds me it has been another hour that I have
 EV> been using the computer.

there is that! :LOL:

[...]

 EV> I didn't know what IDS or IPS meant so I used a Search and decided
 EV> to use Webopedia.com to learn what Intrusion Detection System and
 EV> Intrusion Prevention System means.

yup! i should have written what they stood for... sorry 'bout that... but
i'm also glad to see that you did the research to find out on your own...
that's a GoodThing! ;)

 EV> Boy!, You have your work cut out for you!  Thanks for doing it! 

it can be a lot of work... especially when wading thru huge pcap (packet
captures) files with thousands and thousands of network packets recorded in
them... than the deities for tools like wireshark and their filtering
capabilities so that you can look at one stream of traffic from one system
to another or whatever filtering you need to do to see the actual traffic
:)

[...]

 EV> Except by accident, I don't click on advertisment banners, I hate
 EV> the fact that I'm tracked by what I have recently looked at on the
 EV> internet, and get advertisements along the same line as what I've
 EV> been viewing online.

yeah... that's why i use tools like CCleaner to remove the cookies i do not
want and keep those i do... plus i use firefox with adblock plus and
noscript... i don't see any ads and definitely not any related to anything
i've gone searching for or have bought from some site ;)

 EV> I'm using Firefox with Ad Blocker Plus and just a week ago added No
 EV> Script to all of the other Extensions I have in FF.

i don't use any other extensions at all... well, i do have firebug for
those few times that i'm doing any web development but i'm not doing that
as much as i was a while back...

 EV> Any suggestions to lessen my Paranoia??????   Thanks!

nope! i think a healthy dose of paranoia goes a long way to helping one get
educated about what's what... you're doing good! :)

 EV> Yes, You can laugh at all of the above.

only some of it... but then i remember myself back in the day when i was
learning it all the same way you are... only back then there weren't as
many folks around to help like there are today ;)

)\/(ark