Open Port Vulnerability

[m18213]

I've heard a lot about firewalls keeping ports closed but I dont seem to understand how my computer is at risk.m1823@hotmail.com

I may be a slow walker but I never walk backwards.

[ac1dsp3ctrum]

Well... When you have open ports in your computer.. Its like another door a hacker can get into..... The most common open ports usually have something called a DEAMON running on them....(No your computer isnt possesed) A deamon is a program that opens a specific port and runs a service on it.. A good exaple of this is the HTTP Deamon, the HTTP Deamon opens port 80 of your computer and runs a web server on it...... There are other kinds of deamons too....

SMTP(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
FTP(File Transfer Protocol)
And lots more...... If you want the full list of Ports and their services look at my other post here..... What kind of firewall you need depends on what OS you have..... If your looking for a Windowze firewall go here and check out the firewalls Hope this helps

[m18213]

Thanks. I've read a little about how services are run on some ports and how unused ports can be closed by a firewall. What I don't know is if a hacker scans my ports and finds port 80 open for instance, how can he/she take advantage of that port?

[ac1dsp3ctrum]

Yeah.. There are always exploits for almost every OS/Deamon.. Take Oracle9i.. They said it was un-hackable... Now someone is 1 million $ richer... Port 80 can be taken advantage of depending on what HTTP Deamon you are running....There are almost buffer overflows and the like.... But I have never heard of a extremely serious exploit for port 80.... Apache is a pretty secure HTTP Deamon.... But IIS 4.0/5.9 has bugs everywhere, Whatever you do.. KEEP AWAY FROM IIS..... I know this website which scans your computer for free for about 900 exploits.. and scans all your ports....SecuritySpace
And in case you wanted to look for some exploits/patches look here Have fun.. Hope this helps you out

[s0nIc]

well.. it takes more than a firewall to stop a hacker.. it will just slow them down..

and dont worry too much.. No hacker in its right mind would even bother cracking into a Home PC... they are more interested in Servers.. which holds valuable information..

[deByte]

Originally posted by s0nIc
and dont worry too much.. No hacker in its right mind would even bother cracking into a Home PC... they are more interested in Servers.. which holds valuable information..

true that the server has more valuable info, but home pc has also been targetted, esp for later used by hackers for ddos attacks... protection is always good.

rgds
de

[guerrillase7en]

most the people that try to hack home computers are lamers or newbies, and when a lamer runs into a firewall or anything other then a trojan server running on the computer they will give up. Most the time if a real hacker is going for a home computer it's becouse they DoS attacked, or scanned them..... don't **** with ppl that know what there doing

[chsh]

Originally posted by m18213
I've heard a lot about firewalls keeping ports closed but I dont seem to understand how my computer is at risk.m1823@hotmail.com

It may not be. An open port doesn't actually do anything. It's perfectly safe to run a computer unfirewalled on the 'net. The one proviso is that you don't use any daemons (or services, in the Windows world) that listen on any ports. The minute you do, those open ports become dangerous.

s0nIc: It is very naive to think that hackers won't be interested in a home PC. They may not be AS interested in a home PC, but having remote control over a computer on the internet is still worth it, even if the PC is a Home PC.

Just because a port isn't firewalled does not mean it's 'open' in the sense of 'listening'.

[m18213]

Thanks guys, but what difference does it make if my PC is a home or office pc. The hacking methods and principles will be the same (at least I think.... I stand to be corrected!) xept that most office PCs (Servers) will be a little more protected than home pcs.

The info I need is more of an academic nature. Eg ....

"Don't leave your windows open else a burglar will come into your house......"

I'm not bothered about the burglar's reasons for comming but how he will enter might give me a better understanding of how to either catch him or prevent his entry.

[I am a cracker]

m18213 There is somewhat greater possibility that a hacker will borrow your computer to Launch a DOS. Typically, a DOS starts out by the hacker planting logic bombs in various computers around the world.Then on the big day, the hacker contacts each bomb, sends the trigger command, and the DOS attacks begins.

But honestly Do you really think that a hacker is going to launch a colossal transmission from your HUMBLE SYSTEM, when there are so many far more powerful machines...