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What is Nmap (Network Mapper)?

Nmap is a powerful tool used for network discovery and security auditing. It identifies devices, open ports, and running services on a network, providing administrators and security professionals with detailed insights. It offers an ideal solution for network management and security analysis in both small and large-scale environments. Discover more about Nmap, short for Network Mapper, right here!

What is Nmap (Network Mapper)?
Cyber ​​Security Publication Date 13 November 2025 - Update Date
1.

How to Use Nmap?

Nmap, short for Network Mapper, is an open-source network scanning tool used to discover devices within computer networks and perform security audits. Administrators use Nmap to identify devices, open ports, services, and operating systems running on a system; detect open communication points; and scan for security risks. Therefore, Nmap is widely used by system administrators, security professionals, and penetration testers.

To use network mapping, you must first download Nmap. Nmap comes preinstalled with the Kali Linux operating system. If you want to install Nmap on Windows, you can directly run the installer from “nmap.org.” For macOS installation, use brew install nmap. Familiarity with command-line interfaces is required to use Nmap effectively. When creating a basic Nmap command, the pattern “nmap {scan type} {options} {target}” is followed. The target may be an IP address, domain name, or IP range. For example:

• 192.168.1.1
• google.com
• 192.168.1.0/24

To start Nmap, simply type “nmap” into the command line. Using Nmap is highly flexible and can vary based on requirements; however, the core concept is defining the target and scan type via the command line.

Most Common Nmap Commands

  • Basic port scan to see open ports on a device: nmap 192.168.1.10
  • Scan all ports: nmap -p- 192.168.1.10
  • Service and version detection: nmap -sV 192.168.1.10
  • Determine the operating system: nmap -O 192.168.1.10
  • Quick scan to rapidly discover devices and open ports: nmap -T4 192.168.1.10
  • Host discovery to list active devices on a subnet: nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24
  • Comprehensive information gathering: nmap -A 192.168.1.10

Parameters Used in Nmap Scanning

  • -sn: Used for host discovery (ping scan).
  • -n: Disables DNS resolution and scans without DNS queries.
  • -v, -vv, -vvv: Increases verbosity level for more detailed output.
  • -F: Faster scan with fewer results.
  • -sS: Performs a SYN scan.
  • –reason: Shows the reason behind each detected result.
  • –open: Displays only open ports.
  • -p-: Scans all 65,535 possible ports on a given IP.
  • -sV: Attempts to determine the service running on open ports. Works well with -sC.
  • -sC: Uses Nmap’s default NSE scripts for security and service discovery.
  • -p: Scans only the specified ports following this parameter.
  • –top-ports: Scans the most commonly used ports.
  • –h: Displays help information.
  • –V: Shows detailed version information.
  • –6: Enables IPv6 scanning.
  • –A: Activates aggressive scan including OS detection, version scanning, script scanning, and traceroute.
  • –Pn: Scans the target without ping checks.
  • –e [interface]: Specifies the network interface.
  • –ttl: Adjusts the TTL value.
  • –badsum: Sends packets with incorrect checksums.
  • –data-length: Sets the size of packets.
How to Use Nmap?
2.

What is Nmap Used For?

Nmap’s capabilities primarily include analyzing computer networks, identifying vulnerabilities, and simplifying network management. As a powerful scanning and discovery tool, it is widely used across both small environments and large corporate infrastructures. Additional answers to the question what is Nmap used for include:

  • Discovering Devices on the Network Nmap determines which devices are active on a network. For example: “Which IP addresses are online? Are there any unknown devices?”
  • Identifying Open Ports and Services It scans for open ports across all devices and displays the services running on them: HTTP (80), HTTPS (443), SSH (22), FTP (21). This is critical for identifying security vulnerabilities.
  • Detecting Service Versions Nmap not only reports that a service is open but also provides details like “Is it Apache or Nginx, and which version?”
  • Operating System Detection It analyzes the probable operating system (Linux, Windows, macOS) of the target. This is especially useful in penetration tests and asset management.
  • Helping Identify Security Vulnerabilities Thanks to the Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE), it can perform deep analysis on weak passwords, misconfigurations, known vulnerabilities, firewall rules, and more.
  • Building Network Inventory System administrators can periodically run Nmap to list “Which devices exist, which ports are open, which services are active?” and generate a network topology.
  • Performance and Security Testing Security teams frequently use Nmap to see how much information the network exposes externally and to test firewall behavior.

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