Read from the man himself at www.grc.com. Some think he's paranoid, others take him seriously. As for me, direct attacks aren't an issue due to firewalls, and worms/viruses that might expose this possible problem should be watched for anyway.

thanks for the links guys.
I'll come back when Ive read it all

well, it took me a while but I am back as promised.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but raw sockets is just a full implementation of networking which could be installed as a driver in all other OS types/versions. It does not increase the chance of invasions, but makes outgoing Denial of Service attacks easier.
 
Well, thats just a big fuss I think. Not a worry for me at least.
However, WindowsXP without updates/tweaks IS I think the least secure OS out there (with a default install) but raw sockets has nothing to do with it. There are a lot of rumours and myths going around about this.
 
P.S.: I will be around a lot more now I'm on broadband, with the exception of an upcoming xmas break
So if I leave your hard-work writtings unreplied, I'm either a liar, or got run over by a bus.