On Thu, Mar 31, 2016 at 5:36 AM, Bacon Zombie <baconzombie@gmail.com> wrote:
I would ignore the portscans since there is nothing wrong with portscanning the Internet.
You might want to check with your lawyer on that. If you _intentionally_ port-scan a computer located in Virginia without the owner's permission (and do nothing else, just port-scan it) it's a class 3 misdemeanor under 18.2-152.1, et seq. That's up to a $500 fine for each computer you scan. By comparison, shoplifting is a class 1 misdemeanor while possession of a schedule V narcotic is another class 3. A key word here is "intentionally." Poking at it by mistake (e.g. you thought it was a different computer which you had the authority to scan) is not a crime. Nor, most likely, is less aggressive behavior which would not ordinarily be part of gaining unauthorized access, such as pinging or tracerouting. Not that I've ever heard of someone being fined but you're definitely in to "something wrong" territory. Regards, Bill Herrin -- William Herrin ................ herrin@dirtside.com bill@herrin.us Owner, Dirtside Systems ......... Web: <http://www.dirtside.com/>