Security Basics: Re: Re: Attacking a machine on network.

[sandeep.sandhu.in () gmail com]

Lets assume your machine is not a server, and is not "listening" on any TCP/UDP port. Since the machine is connected to 
a network, there must be some network protocol being used by a network client software. That protocol or the client's 
code could have a vulnerability which could be exploited.

For example, your anti-virus agent might be scheduled to setup a http, ftp or pop3 connection to find out if a new 
anti-virus update is available for patching. This client could be misused by spoofing the anti-virus distribution 
server and injecting malacious code into the binaries picked up by the anti-virus.

Your machine could also be setup to synchronise the internal clock by contacting public NTP servers, this could also 
potentially be exploited.

Similarly, there are several malacious websites which try to exploit web-browser vulnerabilities. They being scanning a 
client IP-address when they receive a browser connection. See the Microsoft Strider-monkey project for examples. The 
honeyclient is another such example.

Regards