Book Image

Network Scanning Cookbook

By : Sairam Jetty
Book Image

Network Scanning Cookbook

By: Sairam Jetty

Overview of this book

Network scanning is a discipline of network security that identifies active hosts on networks and determining whether there are any vulnerabilities that could be exploited. Nessus and Nmap are among the top tools that enable you to scan your network for vulnerabilities and open ports, which can be used as back doors into a network. Network Scanning Cookbook contains recipes for configuring these tools in your infrastructure that get you started with scanning ports, services, and devices in your network. As you progress through the chapters, you will learn how to carry out various key scanning tasks, such as firewall detection, OS detection, and access management, and will look at problems related to vulnerability scanning and exploitation in the network. The book also contains recipes for assessing remote services and the security risks that they bring to a network infrastructure. By the end of the book, you will be familiar with industry-grade tools for network scanning, and techniques for vulnerability scanning and network protection.

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Table of Contents (10 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Sections
Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Introduction to Network Vulnerability Scanning
Introduction to Network Vulnerability Scanning
Basic networks and their components
Network Vulnerability Scanning
Uses
Complexity
Response
Summary
2
Understanding Network Scanning Tools
Understanding Network Scanning Tools
Introducing Nessus and Nmap
Installing and activating Nessus
Downloading and installing Nmap
Updating Nessus
Updating Nmap
Removing Nessus
Removing Nmap
3
Port Scanning
Port Scanning
Introduction
How to specify a target
How to perform host discovery
How to identify open ports
How to manage specification and scan order
How to perform a script and version scan
How to detect operating system
How to detect and bypass network protection systems
How to use Zenmap
4
Vulnerability Scanning
Vulnerability Scanning
Introduction
How to manage Nessus policies
How to manage Nessus settings
How to manage Nessus user accounts
How to choose a Nessus scan template and policy
How to perform a vulnerability scan using Nessus
How to manage Nessus scans
5
Configuration Audits
Configuration Audits
Introducing compliance scans
Selecting a compliance scan policy
Introducing configuration audits
Performing an operating system audit
Performing a database audit
Performing a web application scan
6
Report Analysis and Confirmation
Report Analysis and Confirmation
Introduction
Understanding Nmap outputs
Understanding Nessus outputs
How to confirm Nessus vulnerabilities using Nmap and other tools
7
Understanding the Customization and Optimization of Nessus and Nmap
Understanding the Customization and Optimization of Nessus and Nmap
Introduction
Understanding Nmap Script Engine and its customization
Understanding the Nessus Audit policy and its customization
8
Network Scanning for IoT, SCADA/ICS
Network Scanning for IoT, SCADA/ICS
Introduction to SCADA/ICS
Using Nmap to scan SCADA/ICS
Using Nessus to scan SCADA/ICS systems
9
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How to identify open ports

The following are the six port states that are present in Nmap:

  • open: This means that the port is functioning and has a service running or accessing it. The service can thus accept any connections made as per the protocol and service in use on this port.
  • closed: A closed port is not being accessed by any service, there is no service running on it. Thus, no connections made externally will be successful on these ports.
  • filtered: This status is associated with ports from which no response was received due to the packet filtering mechanism present within the network. This might be caused by an intermediate network protection device.
  • unfiltered: This status is associated with the ports that Nmap was not able to determine whether they were open or closed. Mostly ACK scan labels ports to be in unfiltered state; moreover, scans such as SYN and FIN can help...
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