Nmap Revamped

Nik Barron - www.virus.org - 29 July 2009Security

A major new version of Nmap, the "Swiss army knife" of network diagnostic tools released

A major new version of Nmap, the "Swiss army knife" of network diagnostic tools, has been released. A long term favourite of security professionals, Nmap allows complex packet scans and is a valuable tool for evaluating and testing firewall configurations. It is, of course, also a favourite tool for less ethical users.

The new version boasts significant performance improvements and an updated GUI, along with two new tools. ncat is a general purpose tool for creating network "pipes" to shuffle data around networks, similar to the venerable netcat tool but rewritten and enhanced with features such as SSL and IPv6 support. ndiff is a "diff" tool that allows "what's changed" comparisons between Nmap scans, particularly useful for corporate users on the lookout for unauthorized services.

Nmap is available for a wide range of platforms and is free open-source software. Note that corporate users should check with their security staff before using it, as many antivirus products flag Nmap as "potentially unwanted" or "hacking tool"!

More information: http://nmap.org/5/