>Well, you shouldn't put abusable ftpz/proxies/open mail relays online >in the first place, should you? Refusing others to port scan is a weak >excuse for not properly configuring your software.
I feel portscanning is a bit like snooping around someones house: When do its inhabitants come and go, are there any unsecured windows, open doors, backdoors and the like. Maybe such behaviour is not illegal but certainly undesirable and if it happens it makes me feel uneasy. Of course I don't leave the house without locking it but still I think the world would be a better place when I wouldn't have to do it. Same with the internet. I have looked at houses intensly myself because they were either lovely or had some interesting features. But I can't see what aesthetic couriosity can be satisfied with a portscan. There might be legitimate reasons (as mentioned in other posts) to do a port scan. But I think the better part are a preparation for a attack and I certainly don't want that. So I'd say, (unfortunately) it's stupid to leave a house unlocked (i.e. dont "put abusable ftpz/proxies/open mail relays online") but I'd still like to refuse others the right to check my doors and windows whether they are open or not. (Simply looking at a house is OK but port scanning is more like going up to the house and trying the door knob.) Roger Leemann ---------------------------------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Maillist-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/swinog%40swinog.ch/
