security & prl_disp_service - why?

Hi there

I have Parallels 4 installed in my machine, and although I'm not running Parallels currently I do have the prl_disp_service daemon running in the background. Not a problem except it's running as root, and it's listening on port 64000 on all network interfaces.

From a security point of view this isn't ideal. I use parallels locally with Shared Networking, and I don't see why this requires me to open a socket and listen to connections from outside my physical machine. Can someone at parallels explain what's going on, why it's listening to all interfaces rather than localnet and/or the parallels virtual interfaces, and how to close this socket unless I actually have a VM up?

Thanks, Mike

 

I can't think of any way this helps me

I have also noticed that this process is running even though parallels has been shut down. I wasn't aware of the listening port. These sorts of things are red flags to me and unless there is a good explanation, will weigh in on my decision to continue using and purchasing use the software.

I have been happy with parallels and have been a paying customer for years. I hope we can get an explanation on why this process running and how having it resident helps me.

 

Parallels 5.0 - prl_disp_services - active after shutdown?

Why is the prl_disp_services process running after I quit Parallels? Can anyone say why this continues to run after I quit the app?