Re: Port question

[Ansgar Wiechers <bugtraq () planetcobalt net>]

On 2009-06-24 Ken Pryor wrote:
> Hello all, I just joined the list and this is my first post to it. I
> am a networking noob and am not sure if this is something I should
> worry about or not. I just set up a Smoothwall Express firewall and
> later ran a Shields Up scan at grc.com It showed all ports as stealth
> except one, port 113, which it showed as closed. Shields Up gave my
> system a "failed" score based on that one port showing as closed. My
> question is, is this anything I need to worry about and, if so, how
> might I fix it?

There is no such thing as "stealth" in IP networks. That's braindead
marketing babble from people who failed to understand how TCP/IP works.
Not responding to SYN or ICMP packets does not magically make your host
invisible.

A port being reported as "closed" is perfectly fine, because the result
means that there's no service listening on that port. If anything, you
should be worried about ports that show up as "stealth".

And don't bother with "Shields Up". If you want to do a portscan, use
something like nmap.

Regards
Ansgar Wiechers
-- 
"The Mac OS X kernel should never panic because, when it does, it
seriously inconveniences the user."
--http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2004/tn2118.html

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