📘 Introduction

Cybersecurity is multilayered and depends on how much you see. Identifying all the applications that are running over your network, the ports that are established, and the open ports is key as it equally provides a pathway for rectification and security in your environment. However, Windows tools such as netstat are provided, and they generally are far from being investigative and user friendly. If there is one area that NirSoft’s CurrPorts excels, it is where it falls short a multifunctional yet compact tool that delivers an elaborate view of network activities on your computer.

📊 Overview

CurrPorts is a small, free, and portable network monitoring tool, and it is developed by reputed software engineer Nir Sofer. It facilitates the modern developed graphical user interface replacement for the command-line netstat utility. CurrPorts enhances this configuration by providing real-time details of all active TCP and UDP connections on a computer locally. The connection tool also gives such a substantial amount of information that one can swiftly identify unknown processes, find potentially malicious software, and troubleshoot network problems without downloading additional software or needing advanced configurations.

📝 Description

Being the key piece, CurrPorts is in fact a specialized network task manager that could be seen as a computer-based task manager. Its table has every TCP/IP and UDP connection on a system, but this information is not as insightful to the average user as what is provided by the connections table. Connection details entail information about the process as well as the ID (PID), both local and remote IP addresses and their respective ports, the connection state which can be Listening, Established, classwide among others, and timestamp.

You can show the full path to the application will give its version information and even its product name. Such a direct connection is extremely valuable for determining whether this connection is a compromising one or a preferred one. In addition, it is a portable utility, so this simply gives you the power to prevent installation, and its portability almost allows for quick audits on multiple machines or from a USB drive.

✨ Key Features

The CurrPorts package is useful for beginners or advanced users, as it comes with such useful features:

Detailed Process Information: Indicates process name, PID, path to the file, and description related with each connection.

Real-time monitoring: The automatically updating list facilitates you to follow network activity, and consequently you can observe the event whenever it gets launched.

Advanced Filtering: You can set up quite a complex filter to limit connections to those with particular attributes (such as only those from a specific IP or the server port).

Kill Connections: You can close any selected TCP connection with just a single click, if the process that initiated the connection is still open. This function becomes essential in cutting out any suspicious processes.

Save & Export: Keep track of your network state by saving or exporting upon connection listing that is of the HTML, XML, CSV, or tabulated text file format for post-connection analysis.

Mark Suspicious Ports: This feature automatically does the job for us by highlighting non-standard Windows processes port, such intervention alerts you to spot any irregularity right away.

Command-line version (cports.exe): In addition, there is a command-line version so that system administrators can automate and integrate the functionalities of CurrPorts using batch files, scripts, etc.

🛠️ How To Install

Simplicity is one of the main strengths of CurrPorts. It is devoid of a traditional installation process, which puts it in the category of a “portable” application.

Download: The quickest way to acquire CurrPorts is by visiting the official NirSoft site (nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html) and downloading the CurrPorts ZIP file there.

Extract: Unzip the ZIP file to your selected location folder (like C:\Tools\CurrPorts or straight onto the desktop).

Run: Locate the file cports.exe in the destination folder. Right-click on it and choose “Run as administrator” in the context menu that appears. The program window marks the absolute path to your executable file and selections to protect your system.

In 64-bit versions of Windows, ensure that you use the suitable cports64.exe executable to have efficient performance.

💻 System Requirements

CurrPorts has been designed with the utmost care and will not strain your computer in any way because of its lightweight and compatibility with a broad array of Windows versions.

Operating System: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP (both 32-bit and 64-bit editions are supported).

Architecture: The tools are prepared as 32-bit compiled (cports.exe) file and, owing to being a 64-bit OS, an executable file extension cports64.exe has been provided.

Privileges: Requires administrator rights to execute all functions, including viewing every process along with its killing operation.

Additional Software: It requires no extra frameworks or libraries and is a standalone executable.