A port scan is a series of messages sent by someone attempting to break into a computer to learn which computer network services. Essentially, a port scan consists of sending a message to each port, one at a time. The kind of response received indicates whether the port is used and can therefore be probed for weakness.
Types of port scans include:
Types of port scans include:
- vanilla - An attempt to connect to all ports (there are 65,536)
- Strobe - An attempt to connect to only selected ports (typically, under 20)
- Stealth scan - Several techniques for scanning that attempt to prevent the request for connection being logged
- FTP Bounce Scan - Attempts that are directed through an File Transfer Protocol server to disguise the cracker's location
- Fragmented Packets - Scans by sending packet fragments that can get through simple packet filters in a firewall
- UDP - Scans for open User Datagram Protocol ports
- Sweep - Scans the same port on a number of computers
