Port 113 - is "closed" OK?

[Jud McCranie]

I have an old router, and all ports except 113 show up as "stealth",
except 113, which shows up as "closed". On TVs "call for help" they
said that you should also have port 113 stealth, and said to get the
latest firmware for your router to make it so. I have the latest
firmware for my router, but it doesn't make port 113 stealthy.

How important is it to make port 113 stealth as opposed to closed? Is
it worth buying a new router to make it that way?

 

[Chuck]

I have an old router, and all ports except 113 show up as "stealth",
except 113, which shows up as "closed". On TVs "call for help" they
said that you should also have port 113 stealth, and said to get the
latest firmware for your router to make it so. I have the latest
firmware for my router, but it doesn't make port 113 stealthy.

How important is it to make port 113 stealth as opposed to closed? Is
it worth buying a new router to make it that way?

Jud,

Stealthing yourself is like hiding your head in the sand - it inconveniences
you, and it doesn't make you safe.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/security-by-obscurity.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/security-by-obscurity.html

Layer your security - don't hide.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/please-protect-yourself-layer-your.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/please-protect-yourself-layer-your.html

 

[Jud McCranie]

Layer your security - don't hide.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/please-protect-yourself-layer-your.html>

I ran Scanit, and tries Jason's (the other link didn't work). Scanit
found no problems. However, some popups were blocked.. Should I run
these tests with or without a popup blocker?

 

[Jim]

I'll leave it to you whether you believe stealthiness is worthwhile. That
aside, if you want to stealth port 113 (or any other), there's no need to
buy another router. Just use the port forwarding feature of your router to
forward any requests on that port to a non-existent IP address on your
network. Simple as that.

Jim

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I have an old router, and all ports except 113 show up as "stealth",
except 113, which shows up as "closed". On TVs "call for help" they
said that you should also have port 113 stealth, and said to get the
latest firmware for your router to make it so. I have the latest
firmware for my router, but it doesn't make port 113 stealthy.

How important is it to make port 113 stealth as opposed to closed? Is
it worth buying a new router to make it that way?

Closed is fine -- don't buy a new router. In fact, Closed is better
than Stealth on Port 113 in some cases, so some routers intentionally
un-stealth it. See:

http://grc.com/port_113.htm
http://www.dshield.org/ports/port113.php
http://www.hydrairc.com/wackowiki/Ident?show_files=1
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Jud McCranie]

I thank you and the others for the information.