Nmap Ping Sweep network scan

Originally posted on https://www.virtualizationhowto.com by Brandon Lee on July 6, 2023.

There is perhaps not a better known network scan tool for cybersecurity than Nmap. It is an excellent tool I have used for quite some time when you have a rogue device on a network and you want to understand what type of device it is. Nmap provides this functionality along with many others. Let’s look at the Nmap Ping Sweep and see how we can use it as a network vulnerability ping scan to discover hosts on a network.

What is Nmap and the Nmap Ping Sweep?

Nmap, short for Network Mapper, is a highly versatile, free, and open-source utility for network discovery and security auditing. It’s widely used by network administrators, security professionals, and ethical hackers to explore networks, perform security scans, and detect live hosts and open ports.

Nmap operates by sending specially crafted packets to the target host or network and analyzing the responses. It supports a multitude of scanning techniques, including but not limited to TCP connect() scanning, SYN scanning, UDP raw IP packet scanning, and ICMP scanning, with the latter commonly used in Nmap ping scanning.

Nmap also provides detailed information about the network, including the number of hosts, types of protocols being used, the state of different ports, and the operating system versions in use. This gathered data can help in troubleshooting, network inventory assessments, and…