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

Skipping phases to speed up scans

Nmap scans are divided into phases. When we are working with many hosts, we can save time by skipping tests or phases that return the information we don't need or that we already have. By carefully selecting our scan timing and performance options, we can significantly improve the speed of our scans.

This recipe explains the process that takes place behind the curtains when scanning, the performance and timing configurations that can be adjusted, and how to skip certain phases to speed up scans.

How to do it...

  1. To perform a full port scan with the timing template set to aggressive (-T4), and without reverse DNS resolution (-n) or ping (-Pn), use the following command:
    # nmap -T4 -n -Pn -p- <target>
  2. Note the scanning time at the end of the report:
    Nmap scan report for 74.207.244.221 Host is up (0.11s latency).
    Not shown: 65532 closed ports PORT   STATE SERVICE
    22/tcp     open ssh 80...