"SYN Port Scan" attack help.

[rebellio]

hey guys....i need some help if possible....my mcafee just sent me a message saying that it detected a syn port scan attack. the exact message was

"McAfee Firewall blocked an attempt to attack your machine using a "SYN Port Scan" attack. The remote address associated with the traffic was 69.158.104.58 (port 31751)."

i have no idea what this means and what it will do to my computer? what is the purpose of a port scan attack and how can i prevent it?

thanks for any help...it is greatly appreciated...i know nothing about PC's.

peace. :

[chaslang]

Your firewall is already preventing any problems. That is why you received the message.

The IP address you gave appears to be from Bell Canada. (See below). Is that your ISP? It would appear they may be doing periodic scans. Call them and ask them why.

69.158.104.58 = [ ]

OrgName: Bell Canada
OrgID: LINX
Address:
City: Toronto
StateProv: ON
PostalCode: K1G-3J4
Country: CA
NetRange: 69.156.0.0 - 69.159.255.255
CIDR: 69.156.0.0/14
NetName: BELLNEXXIA-11
NetHandle: NET-69-156-0-0-1
Parent: NET-69-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS3.BELLGLOBAL.COM
NameServer: NS5.BELLNEXXIA.NET
Comment: For abuse cases please use abuse@in.bell.ca

[rebellio]

hey. thank you.
yeah i am with bell canada....wonder why they would try to attack me with that stuff. what kind of questions should i ask them regarding this when i call them?

[chaslang]

You're welcome.

It's not necessarily an attack. They may perform periodic scans for other reasons. You should just ask what they are scanning for and mention that your firewall is blocking it anyway. Chances are they have some software installed on your PC too which in many cases is not necessary either but they sometimes use it for diagnostic purposes.