[Jeff Morriss <jeff.morriss@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

ronnie sahlberg wrote:
> Why would an operating system allow you to disable ICMP?
>
> ICMP has no security issues and IS a vital part of what keeps TCP/IP
> working properly.

I remember a while ago there was a thing that went around called the 
"ping of death".  Googling for that found:

http://insecure.org/sploits/ping-o-death.html

Of course that was years and years ago, but I imagine some people still 
remember (or are paranoid to the point where they don't mind breaking 
some things).