A virus that shuts down Firewalls?
 

Running Windows XP and System Suite 6.0 Firewall:

A couple of times lately, I've noticed my cursor turning into a red and yellow starburst about 3/16th an inch in diameter and then:

My Net Defense Firewall icon in systray dissapears. Opening up System Suite I find my firewall is no longer turned on.

Any ideas?

Probably an obvious question but is the firewall patched with the latest updates ? - software & detection rules ?

A-V-8R

A couple of points - it is critically important to have an up-to-date AV program, preferably with auto-update, that is switched on and properly configured.

Also, I would always go with a hardware firewall - not least because it is impervious to virus attacks of this nature.

SD

Yes, it's almost certain you've been infected. You'll have to disconnect and disinfect I'm afraid. It it helps, you're not alone...

If you happen to have an old computer laying around doing nothing then i would suggest checking out http://smoothwall.org/ . They have a firewall program that is Linux based. It is only about 45 meg and very easy to setup. it is totally independent of your windows operating system thus allowing more resourses for other programs. It also allows you to setup a lan without having to install firewalls on all computer as it protects the whole network. And last but not least it is FREE.
Allen