I was going to set up a Linux box, actually a laptop, and use it for my "security" station. I was going to use this machine to do all of my "nmap" and "SATAN" testing, but after much research, changed my plans. Seems that SATAN has become a bit outdated, and old. While nmap is still a very good utility, I have come across sites on the web that will do it all for you, for free. So why go thru the trouble and expense of setting up another machine? I may still go thru with this plan, but if so, it wont be for a while. I have recieved many tips and such, that have helped, all due to these sites. I have additionally found out that I have, strike that, had, some open ports that surely should not have been. So these resources are truly, top shelf stuff.

http://grc.com/

A popular site. Click on the ShieldsUP! icon to scan your computer.

http://www.dslreports.com/

Runs real hacker tools against your site. Very popular. secureme.

http://www.netice.com/scanme.html

This site sends hostile traffic at your computer, but the responses are ignored. Its purpose is to verify that BlackICE is running, and suggest what the problem is if BlackICE doesn't trigger.

http://www.it-sec.de/vulchke.html

Checks to see if Windows sharing is exposing hard-drives as well as for a couple of common Trojan Horses.