[eagle_eyes]

when i log into my dataflame account, internet explorer says its not recommended, and they sent me an email saying you must have port 2083 open to access the site. sorry if this doesnt all actually make sense, i dont really know exactly what a port is.

[DaFoot]

I'm sure someone will correct me, but my understanding is that it is not so much which ports are open as what is coming in on the open port(s).

Some are generally accepted to have certain uses, eg. 80 is generally the port a webserver serves pages. The tomcat servlet container has a default of 8080 I believe. FTP is 21(?) or 22 I think. You get the idea.

A site asking for a specific port to me would suggest they want to connect to your computer in some way other than through the browser. Which is something you would want to think carefully about.

I don't know any thing about 'dataflame', do you need to install a program to your computer to use the service? If so, 2083 is probably the port they chose to use for what could be a variety of reasons.

Essentially it comes down to "do you trust dtataflame?"

[JoeP]

I lock down every port I can think of, as standard practice.

If you leave a port open for a particular service – which you sometimes need to do, obviously – it’s not just that service that can access it. Any other computer can ‘rattle the door’ of port 2083 and try to make use of it.

So – do you trust the company, and are you totally aware of what they want the port open for?

[alkatraz]

eagle_eyes I recommend you do some reading up on ports and network communication, it doesn't take much to understand the basics and basics are all you need to get an idea of this topic and keep yourself secure.