Book Image

Nmap Network Exploration and Security Auditing Cookbook, Third Edition - Third Edition

By : Paulino Calderon
Book Image

Nmap Network Exploration and Security Auditing Cookbook, Third Edition - Third Edition

By: Paulino Calderon

Overview of this book

Nmap is one of the most powerful tools for network discovery and security auditing used by millions of IT professionals, from system administrators to cybersecurity specialists. This third edition of the Nmap: Network Exploration and Security Auditing Cookbook introduces Nmap and its family - Ncat, Ncrack, Ndiff, Zenmap, and the Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE) - and guides you through numerous tasks that are relevant to security engineers in today’s technology ecosystems. The book discusses some of the most common and useful tasks for scanning hosts, networks, applications, mainframes, Unix and Windows environments, and ICS/SCADA systems. Advanced Nmap users can benefit from this book by exploring the hidden functionalities within Nmap and its scripts as well as advanced workflows and configurations to fine-tune their scans. Seasoned users will find new applications and third-party tools that can help them manage scans and even start developing their own NSE scripts. Practical examples featured in a cookbook format make this book perfect for quickly remembering Nmap options, scripts and arguments, and more. By the end of this Nmap book, you will be able to successfully scan numerous hosts, exploit vulnerable areas, and gather valuable information.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Appendix A: HTTP, HTTP Pipelining, and Web Crawling Configuration Options
Appendix Β: Brute-Force Password Auditing Options
Appendix F: References and Additional Reading

Chapter 8: Scanning Windows Systems

Windows-based networks are still the most common type of network found in organizations, mainly because of the Active Directory (AD) technology that helps system administrators simplify many of their daily tasks. While Windows systems have come a long way regarding security, there are still a few default configurations that we can deem as insecure. Not only default configurations, but some undesirable functionality is also there, such as obtaining system information through SMBv1 pre-authentication.

For this reason, scanning Windows machines is a common task for penetration testers and system administrators, and thankfully, Nmap is full of resources to help us. There are Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE) scripts available to perform tasks from information gathering to vulnerability detection in workstations and servers. As advanced Nmap users, we need to understand what is available and, most importantly, what platforms and configurations these scripts...