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Port Scan

nounid 3626·updated May 9, 2026
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A port scan is a series of messages sent by someone attempting to break into a computer to learn which computer network services, each associated with a "well-known" port number, the computer provides. Port scanning, a favorite approach of computer cracker, gives the assailant an idea where to probe for weaknesses. 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.

MWE

Classifications

Entity Type

Threat85%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

Sensitivity

unclassified

Information Class

unclassified

Variants

plural
Port Scans
possessive
Port Scan's
pluralpossessive
Port Scans'

Framework definitions

SANS Glossary of Security Terms1 senseview framework →
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A port scan is a series of messages sent by someone attempting to break into a computer to learn which computer network services, each associated with a "well-known" port number, the computer provides. Port scanning, a favorite approach of computer cracker, gives the assailant an idea where to probe for weaknesses. 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.

Outgoing relationships

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Incoming relationships

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