XAMPP security?

[jmihawkins]

I've used XAMPP from ApacheFriends (Apache, Perl, PHP, etc) on an XP box for 2-3 years now (off and on) for evaluating various softwares, mostly shoppingcarts. Always on an older stand-alone box, with no connection to the internet (or any other network). I've never bothered to treat the package as anything more than a black-box to facilitate my testing, tho I've mucked around some in the Apache code to set up aliases, and in the XP 'hosts' file. Depending the software I was evaluating, certain functions that required an internet connection didnt work, but usually no big deal. Of course w/o 'net access, updates, enhancements, add-ons, etc have been something of a PITA to deal with.

I want to install XAMPP on a newer, faster XP-Pro machine, that IS connected to the 'net. It will be behind a 'stealthed' wired NAT router, Zone Alarm firewall, and Norton Anti-V. But since I dont really understand the package in general, especially the Apache server, I'm wondering what (if any) security issues I might be setting myself up for? Am I vulnerable to 'unauthorized' inbound access?

Any tips, suggestions, insights, tricks would be greatly appreciated.