During an audit it is identified that a host providing FTP services has several additional ports open. The server is currently listening on 21, 20, 43, 80, and 3389. Your manager asks you to close any ports that are not required for FTP functionality. Which port or ports should remain open?
Standard FTP operates on two well-known TCP ports. Port 21 is the control (command) channel, and port 20 is the default data channel. All other listed ports (43 for WHOIS, 80 for HTTP, and 3389 for Remote Desktop Protocol) are unrelated to FTP and should be closed to reduce the attack surface. Therefore, only ports 20 and 21 should stay open.
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What is the purpose of FTP and why does it use ports 20 and 21?
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Why is it a security risk to leave unused ports open?
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What are the roles of ports 43, 80, and 3389, which should be closed in this scenario?