Port scanning refers to hackers' surveillance of computer ports for malicious purposes. Hackers conduct port-scanning techniques in order to locate holes within specific computer ports. For hackers, these weaknesses represent opportunities to install viruses or other harmful malware onto a computer or to cause the computer's connection to the network to fail.There are 65,535 ports in each IP address, and hackers may scan each and every one to find any that are not secure.
While port scanning can be conducted for legitimate computer security reasons, it is also considered an open-door hacking technique, which can easily be performed for malicious reasons when a specific computer or operating system is the target. Conducted in stealth mode or strobe, malicious port scanning is typically conducted on ports after the 1,024 mark because the ports prior to that are usually affiliated with more standard port services. The ports following that mark are more susceptible to malicious port scanning due to their availability for probes. Strobe mode confines ports to post-1,024 probing, while stealth scans slow down the scanning process over a larger amount of time, thus reducing alarm triggers. Most port scans that are protective in nature only scan ports zero through 1,024. Therefore, users may conduct their own port scans, but they must ascertain that they’re doing so in a legal fashion to avoid ending up on the wrong side of the law. There are also a few trusted vendors who sell port-scanning software.
Read More »
Get Techopedia delivered to your inbox!