Don't Listen To Nintendo's Advice On Getting Online Warns ISP Employee
Nintendo is known for its shoddy online features, but its latest piece of advice has some on Twitter up in arms about the security risks posed. Nintendo recommends players open ports one through 65,535 on their routers - something which can leave your network vulnerable to DDOS attacks and more.
This security flaw was pointed out by Twitter user TarZangief, a help desk supervisor for several US internet service providers and a former member of the US Navy with three years of experience working in the network security department of an aircraft carrier. He spoke to TheGamer to explain what port forwarding is and why opening all of them at once is a security issue.
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"Port Forwarding is a way to allow remote devices to connect to a specific device on a network," he explains. "Most games/services only require one or two specific ports. Doom is known for using port 666.
"You want to restrict your port forwarding to as few ports as possible to limit the number of ways people can access your network. Why unlock all your doors and windows in your home when [a] delivery guy just needs the garage open to leave a package?"
TarZangief discovered this advice when a customer requested he open all ports on his router so he could play Splatoon 3, as a quick search online led them to Nintendo's page.
It turns out, you don't even need to open all 65,000 ports to play Switch games online, Nintendo just isn't providing people with the specific information and is rather suggesting they open the floodgates.
"I do not recommend under any circumstances to open all 65,000 ports," TarZangief warns. "Even if you are doing so for
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