Port Scan vs Security Vulnerability Scan
Test the Security of Your Broadband Internet Connection Now (YES ITS FREE)
Option 1: Port Scans are a great way of finding out if you have any services open to the internet. In reality these days many people with a broadband internet connection are connecting through a 4 port router that provides you with some level of protection from internet based attacks due to the use of a NAT'd setup. So your internal systems have an internal IP (such as 192.168.1.12). Your external IP is hiding these IP's so to speak so unless the ports are deliberatly opened on the router then the risk of attack is reduced.
So if you want to check if you have any services open click over to our FREE online port scan that uses the world famous Nmap port scanner. This scan will test your IP for any open ports.
Option 2: A Security Vulnerability Scan is the next step. So you have some open ports? Using Nessus a well regarded vulnerability scanner you will be able to scan your system and the open ports will be checked for any security issues.
Note that these two Options will scan the IP that you are browsing from if you would like to scan other IP's that you manage you might like to check out HackerTarget.com
Good luck and I hope you find these scanning options useful!