How can you tell which Windows programs are connecting to the Internet with your consent or not? Some programs can reveal a lot of your information right away, while others don't reveal any information at all.
This is especially true for applications that, in addition to a legitimate facade, have hidden malicious features. If you want to know if a program is communicating over the internet with the developer or somewhere else, you can do so in the following ways.
The security options you have are to configure a software or hardware firewall to only allow connections from programs you have selected.
But let's see how you can see the current status of your connections, with or without third-party tools.
Netstat with cmd.exe
One of the easiest ways is to use the netstat command. How?
Search for cmd.exe on your computer.
Right click on cmd.exe and select Run as administrator. This will open a command prompt window.
Type netstat -bona and press enter. It will show all connections and listening ports.
What do the parameters mean?
- b – displays the executable involved in creating the connection.
- o – displays what the process ID belongs to.
- n – displays addresses and the port number.
- a – shows all connections and listening ports.
The command displays executable files, local and external IP addresses, and ports in a list format. This allows you to see which programs are connected or "listening" to you
Powershell
You can also use Powershell as it offers many interesting options.
Search for Powershell on your computer.
Right-click on the exe and select Run as administrator. A Powershell window will open.
Type $nets = NetStat
This will save the Netstat output to the $nets variable.
Type $nets | select-string "Established" to display only existing connections.
Use the same syntax to search for additional features, e.g. for who is "listening" use listening.
Another useful command is netsh interface ipv4 which shows tcpconnections.
Third-party tools
A free program that is easy to use is Nirsoft's CurrPorts. It is a portable application for Windows that will show you all active connections and listening ports. You can find the application here.
Source: secnews.gr
