Final answer:
Blocking suspicious services prevents various attacks like buffer overflow, DNS amplification, application-layer attacks, and makes port scanning more difficult.
Step-by-step explanation:
Blocking suspicious services helps protect against a variety of cyber attacks, including:
- Buffer overflow attacks: These occur when a program tries to store more data in a buffer than it can handle, potentially allowing an attacker to insert malicious code. Blocking suspicious services can prevent this type of attack.
- DNS amplification: This is a type of DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack in which an attacker uses DNS servers to flood a target with excessive amounts of traffic. Blocking suspicious services can help prevent this attack by blocking access to the vulnerable services.
- Application-layer attacks: These attacks target specific applications or services, often exploiting vulnerabilities in their code. By blocking suspicious services, potential avenues for these attacks can be closed off.
- Port scanning: While blocking suspicious services does not directly prevent port scanning, it can make it harder for an attacker to gather useful information about a target's network infrastructure, making it more difficult to plan a successful attack.