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Question

Difficulty: MediumNetworking Ports and Protocols

A network administrator is documenting legacy and standard network services for a company's firewall configuration audit. Match each network protocol to its default port number and primary operating characteristics.

  • SMB (Server Message Block)TCP Port 445 (Shared file/folder and printer access over IP)
  • POP3S (Post Office Protocol 3 Secure)TCP Port 995 (Encrypted email retrieval over TLS/SSL)
  • TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)UDP Port 69 (Connectionless lightweight file transfer)
  • TelnetTCP Port 23 (Unencrypted command-line remote terminal management)

Answer

SMB matches TCP Port 445; POP3S matches TCP Port 995; TFTP matches UDP Port 69; Telnet matches TCP Port 23.
Each protocol correctly pairs with its official IANA port assignment and operational characteristics: SMB operates on TCP 445 for direct file sharing over IP, POP3S uses TCP 995 for secure email retrieval, TFTP uses UDP 69 for lightweight file transport, and Telnet uses TCP 23 for legacy unencrypted terminal sessions.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary transport layer protocol and default port assigned to network sharing services.
SMB operates directly on TCP port 445 for file and print services.
Direct SMB over IP bypasses legacy NetBIOS transport layers and uses TCP 445.
2
Distinguish secure retrieval mail protocols from cleartext variants.
POP3S uses SSL/TLS encryption over TCP port 995 (as opposed to standard unencrypted POP3 on TCP port 110).
Encrypted protocols use dedicated secure ports specified by IANA standards.
3
Differentiate connection-oriented and connectionless file transfer protocols.
TFTP uses UDP port 69, whereas FTP uses TCP ports 20/21.
TFTP relies on UDP for simple, minimal-overhead file exchanges such as bootstrap firmware updates.
4
Identify unencrypted legacy remote administration protocols.
Telnet uses TCP port 23, while its secure SSH counterpart operates on TCP port 22.
Telnet transmits credentials and command session data in plain text across port 23.

Key Concept

Standard TCP and UDP port assignments for networking services and protocols.
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Topics

Networking Ports and Protocols

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