The increased use of computer systems and technology has resulted in a new threat of cyberattacks. IT managers, security professionals, and network administrators that try to protect their systems from multiple network vulnerabilities can benefit a lot by using network analysis tools. One of the most popular network tools is Network Mapper, abbreviated as Nmap. Nmap is a free open-source network discovery and vulnerability scanning tool. It is primarily used for network mapping, which entails outline the network and identifying all devices connected to it. Nmap identifies the devices running on the systems, discovers hosts available, their services, detects security risks, and finds open ports. Network administrators, hackers, and pen testers use the tool to explore a network. One of the main functions used by the tool is port scanning that involves gathering information about system ports. Nmap can listen and determine whether ports are closed, opened, or filtered by a firewall. It sends out and returns IP addresses that provide information that analyzes network attributes. It can provide a map or a profile for the network, enabling one to undertake software and hardware inventory (Calderon, 2017). Nmap uses various protocols to transmit messages successfully. Examples of protocols used include Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The different protocols use different packet structures to send and receive data. Nmap is a versatile tool that can quickly scan large networks but also works fine when scanning a single host.
Obtaining and Installing Nmap
Before downloading or installing Nmap, one has to check whether the software is already installed. Free operating distribution operating systems, such as Linux comes with Nmap packages already installed (“Chapter 2. Obtaining, Compiling, Installing, and Removing Nmap”, n.d). Using Nmap in Kali Linux offers commands in the same way just as running the program in another version. Kali Linux offers a more robust Nmap suite that has an advanced GUI which displays its results in a Zenmap viewer. For Linux versions, typing the command nmap –version should indicate whether the software has been installed or not. In case it is not installed, an error message will be displayed. One can access the download file through the https://Nmap.org website. The website provides various ways to access the software. It is available in Linux in RPM format, in Windows as an NSIS executable installer, and in the Mac OS as a .dmg disk image.
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Different operating systems have different installation procedures. After downloading the Nmap windows installer, one has to follow the steps outlined in the output window. Nmap requires a Npcap or a WinPcap to function successfully on Windows. For macOS, one has to run the .dmg file and follow the steps in the installer. Latest versions of MacOS may have a warning indicating that Nmap is an unidentified developer. One should ignore this warning and continue with the installation. The installation of Nmap on Linux is different as it one has to run the command sudo apt-get install. The command will download the latest version of the software and install it. Linux users that already have Nmap installed may consider updating their Nmap to the latest version. Running the installation command should update the software.
Getting Started with Nmap
One can get started with Nmap by using multiple commands. One of the first functions that a new user can do is to scan their local network. One has first to know the IP address of their network to conduct a successful scan. For instance, if the IP address of the local router is 192.168.1.254, running the command nmap 192.168.1.254 should successful scan the address. Nmap should provide a report that indicates that the host located at 192.168.1.254 is functioning well. The report will provide additional information such as the latency in the system and the logical ports reported by showing the specific ports, the state, and the particular service (Rahalkar, 2019). One can scan more than one IP addresses by using the command nmap 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.2 193.168.1.3 192.168.1.254. The command nmap 192.168.1.1-254 scans a range of systems. While doing this can take some time, it can be used to scan and report all the systems in a range of IP addresses.
A host scan is another scanning approach that shows all the hosts connected to the system. Nmap does this by sending an ARP request, and the hosts respond with another ARP request. The specific command to scan the host is nmap sp <target IP range>. Nmap should return information about every host, their MAC address, their latency, and any descriptions associated with the host (Rahman et al., 2016). In case one identifies a suspicious address, one can run a DNS query on a specific host by using the command nmap -sL <IP address> . Doing this can be critical to spot suspicious hosts within the network.
Conclusion
Organizations today face a constant threat from hackers. IT personnel in every organization should strive to improve their cybersecurity knowledge by understanding what Nmap is, how to download and install it, and how to get started with the tool. Doing this ensures that one can frequently analyze all ports in the system and assess the vulnerability of the system in the open ports. Obtaining and installing Nmap is simple as one has to access the software through the Nmap’s official website. Nmap has various features such as scanning a local network or hosts in an extensive network. The tool should be used as the first line of cybersecurity defense for any organization.
References
Chapter 2. Obtaining, compiling, installing, and removing nmap. (n.d.). Nmap. https://nmap.org/book/install.html
Calderon, P. (2017). Nmap: Network exploration and security auditing cookbook . Packt Publishing Ltd.
Downloading nmap. (n.d.). Nmap . https://nmap.org/download.html
Rahalkar, S. (2019). Introduction to NMAP. In Quick Start Guide to Penetration Testing (pp. 1-45). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Rahman, A., Kawshik, K. R., Sourav, A. A., & Gaji, A. A. (2016). Advanced network scanning. American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) , 5 (6), 38-42.
