Port management , closing ports from intrusion

I read that one can prevent port scans by 'closing off' all ports , while
maintaining an open port 80 for surfing. Is there a method to block port
scans?

N
Thu Jan 27 00:30:50 CST 2005

In article <05D31FA9-A35D-4412-8359-FE6B0744FC3F@microsoft.com>, =?Utf-8?B?
TmV1cm9Db21wIE1hdGhlbWF0aWNpYW4=?= says...

> I read that one can prevent port scans by 'closing off' all ports , while
> maintaining an open port 80 for surfing. Is there a method to block port
> scans?

There is no way to prevent port scans. Those come across the Internet from
other computers. The only way to avoid them is to not connect to the
Internet.

You don't need to keep port 80 open to surf. Your port 80 has nothing to do
with your surfing to other sites. You only need to open port 80 on your
computer if you are running a web site. Otherwise, when you are surfing the
web, you are connecting to the other computer's port 80 from one of your own
"ephemeral" ports; 1024 to 5000, or so.

Use personal firewall software, a hardware firewall, or a NAT router. All of
them will reject unsolicited packets, which is all that port probes really
are.

--
Norman
~Win dain a lotica, En vai tu ri, Si lo ta
~Fin dein a loluca, En dragu a sei lain
~Vi fa-ru les shutai am, En riga-lint

Steven
Thu Jan 27 00:44:39 CST 2005

Use a firewall. If you have a cable/dsl modem I suggest a cheap NAT router
[ Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, etc.] will work fine for you. Otherwise try
something like the free for personal use Zone Alarm which is fairly easy to
configure for novice users. If using XP, just enable the built in ICF
firewall. Those firewalls will "block" all uninitiated inbound traffic. See
the links below. A firewall is just one part to protecting your
omputer. --- Steve

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx -- Microsoft
tips to protect your PC.
http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/security/fwfirewall.html --- free for
personal use firewalls.

"NeuroComp Mathematician" <NeuroCompMathematician@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote in message news:05D31FA9-A35D-4412-8359-FE6B0744FC3F@microsoft.com...
>I read that one can prevent port scans by 'closing off' all ports , while
> maintaining an open port 80 for surfing. Is there a method to block port
> scans?