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Free Open Ports Scan
By Stephen Bucaro
If you have a firewall protecting your computer while you browse the Internet,
you are familiar with the popup warning messages caused by hackers who are always
probing the Internet for vulnerable computers. They want to know what operating
system you are using, what browser you are using, what virus protection you have
installed. Most importantly, they want to know if your computer has any open ports
they can use to take control of your computer.
Gibson Research Corporation, the maker of the very
popular SpinRite disk maintenance utility, provides a free online port scanner -
ShieldsUp!. On the Gibson Research home page, scroll down to the ShieldsUp!
link. Clicking on the link will bring you to a webpage that reveals your system's
reverse DNS. (The IP address associated with your machine.) Click on the "Proceed" button.
Testing the scanner on a Windows XP machine (not SP2) without a firewall gave the
following results:
 Retrieved the computers name and workgroup.
Computer accepted an anonymous connection from another machine.
Remotely connected to your NetBIOS system.
Significant personal information is leaking out of your computer.
Testing the scanner on a Windows 2000 machine with McAfee firewall gave the following results:
Your computer has deliberately chosen not to respond.
All attempts to get any information from your computer have failed.
This computer appears to be very secure.
Looks like I'll be installing a firewall on that Windows XP machine. Why not test your machine?
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