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Why are ports open?

  Open ports are the result of something in your system or network deliberately preparing to accept unsolicited incoming connections from unknown and anonymous machines on the Internet. Due to the inherent difficulty of writing completely secure programming code, a high percentage of open ports are "exploitable" by malicious Internet hackers. This means that sooner or later some clever "exploit" could be crafted to take advantage of your open ports to gain an advantage without your knowledge or permission. 

There are a number of sources of open ports: 

Windows Default Configuration

  Unfortunately, any "out of the box" Microsoft Windows operating system is literally riddled with known exploitable and potentially exploitable Internet security vulnerabilities. Keeping Windows updated with all of the latest security patches is always a good idea, but even a fully patched Windows system STILL has many open ports creating opportunities for external intrusion. This is an unfortunate result of Microsoft's policy of turning everything "on" in the system in case it might be required - even if it's not required - and even if it means opening exposed Internet services to every other machine on the global Internet. 

  Since even Microsoft's own built-in Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) leaves ports open that might be vulnerable to external attack, the only safe practice is to place and Windows systems behind a NAT router, and/or to run personal firewall software on every Windows machine. By doing so it is possible to attain a 100% "TruStealth" rating and for your computer or network to be completely invisible while it is operating on the Internet. 

Poorly Secured NAT Routers

   The default configuration of some NAT routers exposes their management access ports to the "WAN" (Wide Area Network) Internet. Since router configuration management is usually only performed from the "LAN" (Local Area Network) side of the router, this exposure is unnecessary. Fortunately, it is usually a very simple matter to close these external openings through simple router reconfiguration.