| Explanation & Hint:
Three goals of a port scan attack are:
- To Identify Active Services: By scanning the ports of a target system, an attacker can discover which services are running on those ports. Each open port can be associated with specific services, and knowing which services are active can provide insights into the potential functions and roles of the system.
- To Determine Potential Vulnerabilities: By identifying which ports are open and what services are running on a system, an attacker can determine potential vulnerabilities. For instance, certain services might be known to have specific vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Understanding what’s running on a system helps in crafting targeted attacks.
- To Identify Operating Systems: Port scanning can also be used to infer the type of operating system running on a target system. Certain operating systems use specific ports and respond to scans in unique ways. By analyzing these responses, an attacker can often determine the operating system, which aids in tailoring further attacks to exploit OS-specific vulnerabilities.
Other options, such as discovering system passwords, identifying peripheral configurations, and disabling used ports and services, are not direct goals of a port scan attack. Port scanning is primarily about information gathering rather than direct action like disabling services. |