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I just installed Discord (downloaded from the official Discord website) and after the install a Windows Firewall pop-up appears asking me if I want to allow Discord through Windows Firewall.

I don't know what ports Discord needs to communicate and after some googling the ports used seems to be random.

Will this make my computer less secure?

Would it be safer to use the Web version of Discord instead?

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  • I don't believe Discord opens listening ports which would be the more concerning security issue. Ephemeral ports for connecting out to a service is fairly standard practice.
    – RoraΖ
    Apr 25, 2022 at 17:43
  • How would a not so tech savvy user confirm this? All I know about networking security is that open ports = bad. I have no idea if I'm freaking out about this for no reason. From what I can find Discord uses port 443 for text-chat, and some random Port between 45000-60000 (UDP) for voice
    – em1l10200
    Apr 25, 2022 at 18:43
  • Yes Discord uses Port 443. This is the standard HTTPS/TLS port. FireFox for instance also uses port 443. These connections originate with your client. Most Ephemeral ports are also originating from your client, and are normal. Listening ports allow external connections which are bad. In a command prompt on Windows you can run netstat -a. Any "State" that is LISTENING would be a concern.
    – RoraΖ
    Apr 25, 2022 at 18:58
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    I see! Thank you for your responses. I'm still not comfortable allowing the Discord desktop app through the Windows Firewall though, so I think I'll just stick with the web-version as of now.
    – em1l10200
    Apr 25, 2022 at 19:52

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Discord could be considered a trusted application dependant on its purpose.

One major concern I would say Discord opens up is the ability to carry out file transfer which may introduce malicious data into a network, however this risk may be no different from allowing general internet access over HTTP/HTTPS.

If Discord uses Port 443 for its text, data and voice then its no less secure than general web browsers. However it may invite a potential attack vector to be exploited.

If Discord provides some kind of centralised user management where users are created by an administrator and can be restricted to not join non-authorised Discord channels then I would not consider it any less-secure than web browsing.

The Discord desktop application may open up other vulnerabilities in the application code but this again is the same as any other 3rd party application.

In this case, it is up to your risk appetite to decide.

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  • Not to mention that Discord is often used to host malware due to its file sharing capabilities
    – Sir Muffington
    May 4, 2022 at 18:54

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