ICQ ports and port 137

[Pich]

Hi, I scanned myself and found among others that my port 137 was open. Can anybody tell me the function of that port?

I'm wondering if I'm vulnerable to hackers with this port open, and also if the port that is opened by ICQ can be used by a hacker to enter my computer?

[jcdux]

137 is 'NETBIOS Name Service', as long as you have no shared drives or printers it shouldn't cause any problems, however, it is advisable to run some sort of personal firewall and more importantly, a good Anti-Virus product (with up 2 date virus defs)

J.

[Pich]

I also found that port 139 was open. Are 137 always open, even if I don't have file sharing on, or what?

Could a hacker get access to all my files if I use file sharing, and not only the ones I share?

[{P²P}Apocalypse]

Yes for the most part, any port that has a dameon (service) running on it will be open. However. You can close the posrts with a personal firewall or stop running the service that opens the port ie a web server. Some applications may open a port but give a busy signal or no answear at all so to speak. Thats just a basic answear. Go here to get an idea of some ports that open with third party software.
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/..._port_list.htm