You work as a Network Administrator for uCertify Inc. You need to conduct network reconnaissance, which is carried out by a remote attacker attempting to gain information or access to a network on which it is not authorized/allowed.

What will you do?

A.
Use a SuperScan

B.
Use a netcat utility

C.
Use a vulnerability scanner

D.
Use an idle scan

Explanation:
In the given scenario, you will use a vulnerability scanner. The vulnerability scanner can be used to conduct network reconnaissance. Network reconnaissance is typically carried out by a remote attacker attempting to gain information or access to a network on which it is not authorized or allowed. Network reconnaissance is increasingly used to exploit network standards and automated communication methods. The aim is to determine what types of computers are present, along with additional information about those computers such as the type and version of the operating system. This information can be analyzed for known or recently discovered vulnerabilities that can be exploited to gain access to secure networks and computers. Network reconnaissance is possibly one of the most common applications of passive data analysis. Early generation techniques, such as TCP/IP passive fingerprinting, have accuracy issues that tended to make it ineffective. Today, numerous tools exist to make reconnaissance easier and more effective.

Answer option B is incorrect. Netcat is a freely available networking utility that reads and writes data across network connections by using the TCP/IP protocol. Netcat has the following features:
It provides outbound and inbound connections for TCP and UDP ports. It provides special tunneling such as UDP to TCP, with the possibility of specifying all network parameters.
It is a good port scanner.
It contains advanced usage options, such as buffered send-mode (one line every N seconds), and hexdump (to stderr or to a specified file) of transmitted and received data. It is an optional RFC854 telnet code parser and responder.

Answer option A is incorrect. SuperScan is a TCP/UDP port scanner. It also works as a ping sweeper and hostname resolver. It can ping a given range of IP addresses and resolve the hostname of the remote system. It can also be used as an enumeration tool for the following:
NetBIOS information
User and Group Accounts information
Network shares
Trusted Domains
Services probing