High-risk ports: The chink in your network armor

A risk-based approach to cybersecurity

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Security is principally about managing risk. The more commonly exploited and dangerous ports you have exposed to the Internet, the greater your risk because the attacker will have more chances to try to execute a cyber attack. This observation brings me to the next part of my cybersecurity question related to network exposure: How many systems expose administrative access and high-risk ports to the Internet? This is part of my online book: Cybersecurity for Executives.

It is also one of my posts on Network Security.

If you’ve read the books or seen the Lord of the Rings movie you may remember how Bilbo Baggins snuck into the lair of Smaug, the dragon. He discovered one bare, unprotected spot in the dragon’s underbelly. He told others what he saw, and that weakness was eventually used by Bard to slay the dragon. That small bare patch in the dragon’s protective armor is like the administrative port left open on…