RE: Yet another thread on the legality of port scanning

["Hoang, Binh P,,DMDCWEST" <Hoangbp () osd pentagon mil>]

Guys:
There was a case back in 2000, of which the judge found port scan legal.
Read on.
http://isp-planet.com/politics/port_scan_bol.html

Anyone heard of a recent case?

Binh Hoang
CCSP,CCNA,INFOSEC
EDS/DMDC-Systems Division
hoangbp () osd pentagon mil



-----Original Message-----
From: Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers [mailto:bugtraq () planetcobalt net] 
Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 9:22 AM
To: security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: Re: Yet another thread on the legality of port scanning


On 2004-03-18 Charley Hamilton wrote:
> > On 2004-03-17 Charley Hamilton wrote:
> > > The "reasonable man" hypothesis applies to connecting to a system to 
> > > which authorization is in doubt.  Would a reasonable man conclude 
> > > that http://www.cnn.com is an acceptable connection in the absence 
> > > of explicit permission?  I would say yes, he would. Would a 
> > > reasonable man conclude that ftp://www.cnn.com is an acceptable 
> > > connection in the absence of explicit permission? I would argue no, 
> > > he would not. What's the difference?  HTTP is generally accepted to 
> > > be a public connection, in the sense that it is intended as a shared 
> > > resource, to be accessible to all.  FTP is not generally accepted as 
> > > such, regardless of what electronic storefront happens to be 
> > > offering the service.
> >
> > That's simply not true.
>
> I admit FTP was a poor choice.  Detailed response in reply to Barry 
> Fitzgerald.  Were you also referring to something else?

It's just a hostname, nothing more, nothing less. In some cases the www
server doesn't even have the www-prefix. In other cases it's name is chosen
to represent its purpose (e.g. groups.google.com). So the hostname does in
no way tell you if you are permitted to use it or not. But authentication
does.

Regards
Ansgar Wiechers

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethical Hacking at the InfoSec Institute. Mention this ad and get $545 off 
any course! All of our class sizes are guaranteed to be 10 students or less 
to facilitate one-on-one interaction with one of our expert instructors. 
Attend a course taught by an expert instructor with years of in-the-field 
pen testing experience in our state of the art hacking lab. Master the
skills 
of an Ethical Hacker to better assess the security of your organization. 
Visit us at: 
http://www.infosecinstitute.com/courses/ethical_hacking_training.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethical Hacking at the InfoSec Institute. Mention this ad and get $545 off 
any course! All of our class sizes are guaranteed to be 10 students or less 
to facilitate one-on-one interaction with one of our expert instructors. 
Attend a course taught by an expert instructor with years of in-the-field 
pen testing experience in our state of the art hacking lab. Master the skills 
of an Ethical Hacker to better assess the security of your organization. 
Visit us at: 
http://www.infosecinstitute.com/courses/ethical_hacking_training.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------