Glossary

NMAP (Network Mapper)

NMAP, short for Network Mapper, is a powerful and versatile security scanning tool used primarily for network discovery and security auditing. Widely recognized in the cybersecurity community, NMAP is an open-source tool that allows network administrators, system administrators, and security professionals to discover devices running on their networks, identify open ports, detect security risks, and map the network's structure.

NMAP operates by sending specially crafted packets to target hosts and then analyzing the responses it receives to determine characteristics about the devices on the network, such as available services (applications), data about the operating systems they are running, types of packet filters/firewalls in use, and other features. The ability to identify open ports is crucial as these are the gateways through which networks can communicate with the external world, and as such, they represent potential points of entry for attackers.

Key features and uses of NMAP include:

NMAP's flexibility and extensive capabilities make it an essential tool for conducting network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime. It is also instrumental in penetration testing, where security professionals simulate attacks to identify vulnerabilities in a network’s infrastructure.

NMAP can be run on most types of computers and supports various operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It is a command-line tool, although a graphical user interface version, called Zenmap, is also available for those who prefer not to use command-line interfaces.

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