The Ethics and Legality of Port Scanning

Port scanning is an ideological ambiguity within the computer industry. While usually considered malicious, port scanning is often used by system administrators to diagnose problems on their own network. While most private organizations prohibit the activity, there are currently no state or federal laws that specifically address it. This paper will define and outline the process of port scanning, discuss ethical and legal issues surrounding port scanning, and assert the importance of strictly defining scanning in an organization's policy.