Blocking processes at startup

[clickit]

I want to turn off several services which I do not use (I think?) when
I connect to the internet. These are (in rc.0 order):
httpd, mysql, samba, nfsd, rpc, sshd, saslauthd, openldap, messagebus,
and as in rc.0 end with /bin/sync and /bin/sleep 3.
I am unsure of ssalauthd, openldap and messagebus in particular.
If I turn off httpd won't that effect my access to the web?
I am not running mysql or samba of nfs at this time.
The objective is to have as few services available as possible thinking
this would thwart any hackers.
The means for turning these off would be commenting them out in rc.0.
Any ideas or suggestions will be very helpful.

[Lazydog]

First thing you need is a firewall setup. You should block all new connections into your system.
Second your OS should have some sort of program that will turn off the demons that you don't want.

Use google to lookup how to stop services for your OS.
And NO turning off HTTPD will not affect your web browsing.
You never said what you were using so it's really not possible to tell you how to do this.

[thehemi]

First thing you need is a firewall setup.

Agreed. That is absolutely the single best step you can take.
What if you miss a service? What if you forgot to disable one?

You configure the firewall to only allow what you WANT and you
don't have to worry about any you FORGET to disable. And you
can tweak which networks are allowed through, too, so you get
more control than just having a port open to the world.

Setup the firewall and then worry about disabling the services.