Nmap : A Tool for Hackers or Security Professionals?

Namp is actually a “Hacker Tool” meant to compromise network security. Nmap was first introduced as a hacking tool but was quickly adopted by IT professionals. It provides excellent information about the host on your network.

IT professional can :

• Audit your network - Users can easily scan a network hosts that have unsecured ports.
• Test firewall configurations - It helps to ensure that firewall blocks as many packets as it can, without compromising your ability to communicate with the outside world.
• Test your router and switch configuration: TCP/IP has a built-in testing features that allow one echo request to cause and entire networks of host to respond to a host.Using readily available software, an attacker can use your network to attack other network.

Nmap is a valuable tool to someone who knows how to use the information to help secure your network.

In a recent report from from Washington Post, hundreds of websites including the UN website have been hacked recently and injected a code that tries to exploit security flaws in Windows machine to install malware on visitor’s machine.

Attackers try to break into the site using the  vulnerability found on IIS servers.

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