Port 70Gopher
The Gopher protocol is a distributed document search and retrieval protocol designed for distributing, searching, and retrieving documents over the Internet. It preceded the World Wide Web and offered a menu-driven interface to access text-based resources. Although largely obsolete today, Gopher played a critical role in early Internet navigation and information access..
- transport
- tcp
- in transit
- cleartext
- assignment
- official
- risk
- 4/10
- lookups
- 8,957
single transport
payload readable on path
registered with iana
caution
rank 550 of 993 · top 55%
Technical Details
what runs on :70Introduced in 1991 by the University of Minnesota, the Gopher protocol was designed for a hierarchical, menu-based information delivery system across IP networks. It uses TCP port 70 by default and operates by sending selectors to servers, which respond with menus or documents. Gopher clients interpret these responses to provide users with simple navigation menus, enabling easy access to distributed text documents.
The protocol is lightweight and text-based, focusing primarily on efficiency and simplicity. Unlike the early Web's hypertext linking, Gopher’s structure is rigidly hierarchical, resembling a directory tree rather than a mesh. Communication typically involves the client sending a selector string indicating a document or menu, and the server responding with plain text data or menu listings.
While Gopher links could embed pointers to other Gopher servers or resources, it did not initially support multimedia content or complex formatting. As the Web gained popularity due to capabilities like inline graphics and a more flexible hyperlinking model, Gopher use significantly declined. Despite this, some enthusiasts maintain small Gopher servers as a nod to Internet history.
Security Information
exposure of :70risk score
4/ 10caution
worth attention. how exposed you are depends on configuration — don't leave it reachable from the internet without a reason.
web services averages 3.9 across 112 ports — this one sits 0.1 above.
in transit
cleartext
credentials and payloads are readable by anyone on path
assignment
official
registered with iana for this service — scanners fingerprint it by number
reachable over
tcp
every listening transport is another surface to filter at the edge
security overview
Common Vulnerabilities
- Lack of encryption makes data susceptible to interception and eavesdropping.
- Gopher servers may expose sensitive internal directory structures or files if misconfigured.
- Some older clients or servers may have vulnerabilities leading to buffer overflows or directory traversal attacks.
Common Mitigations
- Avoid running public Gopher servers unless necessary, as the protocol lacks modern security features.
- Properly sanitize and restrict directory access permissions on Gopher servers.
- Use firewall rules to restrict unnecessary exposure of port 70 to the Internet.
- Consider network segmentation to isolate legacy Gopher services from critical infrastructure.
- Monitor server logs for unusual activity and keep server software updated to patch known bugs.
Related Ports
the 8 most looked-up other ports in web services — 112 ports carry that label.
| port | service | risk | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :8888 | Sun Answerbook & Alt HTTP | TCP | Web Services | caution | 123.9k |
| :8000 | Intel Remote Desktop / Alternate HTTP Port | TCP | Web Services | safe | 84.3k |
| :8888 | NewsEDGE | TCPUDP | Web Services | caution | 83.3k |
| :8888 | HTTP Alternative Port | TCP | Web Services | caution | 76.5k |
| :8888 | GNUmp3d Streaming HTTP | TCP | Web Services | caution | 76.3k |
| :9080 | Groove RPC | TCPUDP | Web Services | caution | 70.8k |
| :8881 | Atlasz Secure Server | TCP | Web Services | caution | 67.6k |
| :80 | HTTP | TCPUDP | Web Services | caution | 67.3k |
risk mix of the 8 listed
- safe13%
- caution88%
0 of 8 encrypted