I really appreciate tools that are complex and have lots of options. In fact if I pay good money for them, it’s something I expect. But there is something about a tool that is simple and free that strikes a chord in me for whatever reason. That’s why I love tools like Netcat and Fport.  Fport is one of the free tools from Foundstone.  To me it’s a great way to see if something mysterious is trying to connect from your computer.  If you’re at a friend’s home and he suspects something odd is happening with his computer and you don’t have your tools, download Fport and check it out.  More than once I have caught a Trojan on someone’s computer that was evading antivirus and was not showing up in the process.

http://www.foundstone.com/

Yes very true. A well coded root kit is becoming one of the worst nightmares and can defeat more than just little ole fport.  But that doesn’t mean fport doesn’t have a place. No, not as a tool on a critical network! As a quick check on someone’s home computer where there might be a lot of p2p file sharing going on.   Something done on the fly.

Hey, I like your combination of utilities. Good post and I am sure it will be helpful.