Telnet port 23 open

[thehorse13]

Hiya Phishy....

No, this is a safe method of sending packets into limbo. You would have to trick the device into passing the packets to a different address which would mean that you would have to find a bug in the way that the device interprets and forwards traffic. Wait a minute, did you say Cisco?! Hmmmm.....LOL!! Seriously, this is ok.

[amorphous]

Ok, so if I forwarde port 23 to limbo how would this effect my isp's ability to log into the router for service? Would they still be able to log in or would they then have their connection dropped? Don't want to get myself into trouble with them. I can access the router since one of the techs told me the passwords when I called for support once.

[Tedob1]

if the router has been configured by your isp then i have serios doubts about its security. make sure the login isn't somthing simple like admin : admin or " " : admin. check for the default password of your router and make sure they changed it. your isp may be quite upstanding but you can never be sure the person that configured it was being diligent at that moment.

[PuReExcTacy]

You may want to scan 127.0.0.1 , then scan your ip address. If it's your modem or your computer, it's both bad. You wouldn't want anyone to be able to log in to your modem and redirect all your traffic to them. Also, if it's on your computer, and you didn't already know it, then that's sure to be bad news. Certainly you'll want to find out what's listening to the port. You best tool in this case would be nmap, and it can give you a good idea of what's listening and you can choose a better course of action.


--PuRe

[steve.milner]

Quick question

What banner/reply do you get if you actually telnet to it ?

This might tell you a lot.

[cheyenne1212]

If I were you I would forward the port to a bogus IP. If they don't like that then they'll call you. The only thing you were doing was trying to improve your security. If they don't like it just change it back.

[gunit0072003]

Just want to point out amorphous, the fact that you have your own router that you manage
behind the DSl router, hardened and secured as you stated is enough to not be concerned about what ports are open on the DSL router..

Who cares what ports are open.
Think of the DSL router as a device at the ISP/s premises and your router connected to it via an ethernet connection. What your ISP does unfortunaltely is beyond our control...

Its not your router and you do not manage it. Otherwise you would start worrying about all the other routers and their weeknesses that your ISP manages beyond the DSL router.

[amorphous]

I guess were I'm really aiming with this is whether or not they could take over and use my connection through this service. I don't know if its possible or not... I might be being paranoid for nothing. Is it possible that if someone could telnet into my router could they then use my connection to perform some illegal activity say try and hack a government facility? If so...then who would the authorities come looking for? My isp since it is their router...or me since the hack originated from my router? Or do they have to "hack" into my computer and make my computer do the actual deed versus just using my connection?

[gunit0072003]

It is a good to be concerned since the IP assigned to DSL router is designated to you
and you fear that a malicious attack from that source may point back to you..

However, lets think about what someone may be capable of doing if they were able to telnet to your DSL router (basically "sit" inside it)

From what i can see, they can only bring your DSL router "down" . See the problem here the perpetrator will encounter is that all the tools he would like to use are on his/her pc..when telnetted to your router, his command prompt is the DSL router..He is limited to commands he can initiate from router OS...

Unless someone knows of ways to compromise a server/router/etc from a DSL router,
which is running most likely static or default route back to ISP, then I do not see anything to worry about other than if your DSL router is compromised, your internet access can be rendered inactive.

[amorphous]

Thanks.