A network scan of a public-facing server reveals that several ports are open. A system administrator confirms that one of these ports is not required for any of the server's intended applications or services. What is the primary security risk associated with this unnecessary open port?
It will cause immediate data exfiltration from the server's primary application.
It prevents legitimate users from accessing the server's intended services.
It consumes a significant amount of CPU and memory resources, degrading server performance.
It increases the attack surface, providing an additional entry point for potential exploits or unauthorized access attempts.
The correct answer is that an unnecessary open port increases the system's attack surface. Even if no legitimate service is running on the port, it can be probed by attackers using techniques like port scanning. This can reveal information about the operating system and attract further attacks, such as brute-force attempts or the exploitation of a vulnerability if a service is ever misconfigured or a malicious one is installed on that port. Unused ports do not inherently consume significant resources, cause data exfiltration, or block legitimate traffic to other services. Best practice is to close all unused ports to minimize the attack surface.
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