What is Packet Flooding and/or WinNuke?
A win nuke or a packet flood can be accomplished if the user knows your IP address. Basically a person will set up a program to query your computer over ICMP (Internet control message protocol) which normally uses port 0 – 11. They can also query other ports over other protocols, such as port 139 and 113 over TCP/IP. Think of this as an advanced telephone system. When you call someone, the phone rings on their end, and you also hear the phone ring. The same process on a computer is called pinging. If another computer user has your IP address, it is very much like having your “phone number.” The user can ping your computer, and your computer will answer with a ping. Part of the danger of this system lies in the variance of speed between the two computers, and how fast each is able to process a reply to the ping. If another user has a very fast connection, they can ping your computer repeatedly. Your computer will need to answer each time it is pinged. Even though their computer will hav
