312-50V10 · Question #336
A hacker is attempting to see which IP addresses are currently active on a network. Which NMAP switch would the hacker use?
The correct answer is B. -sP. The -sP switch in NMAP performs a ping scan to determine which IP addresses have active, reachable hosts without performing a full port scan.
Question
A hacker is attempting to see which IP addresses are currently active on a network. Which NMAP switch would the hacker use?
Options
- A-sO
- B-sP
- C-sS
- D-sU
How the community answered
(17 responses)- B94% (16)
- D6% (1)
Why each option
The -sP switch in NMAP performs a ping scan to determine which IP addresses have active, reachable hosts without performing a full port scan.
-sO performs an IP Protocol scan to determine which IP protocols (TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc.) are supported by the target host, not to discover live hosts.
The -sP flag (Ping Scan, also written as -sn in newer versions) instructs NMAP to send ICMP echo requests and TCP/ARP probes to determine which hosts are online. It does not scan ports, making it a fast and lightweight method to enumerate live hosts on a network. This is the correct choice when the goal is simply to see which IP addresses are currently active.
-sS performs a stealthy TCP SYN (half-open) port scan against a target host, not a host discovery sweep.
-sU performs a UDP port scan to identify open UDP services on a target, not to identify active IP addresses across a network.
Concept tested: NMAP ping scan for live host discovery
Source: https://nmap.org/book/man-host-discovery.html
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