Which of the following is the best tool for this task?

Before starting an assessment, a penetration tester needs to scan a Class B IPv4 network for open ports in a short amount of time.

Which of the following is the best tool for this task?
A . Burp Suite
B . masscan
C . Nmap
D . hping

View Answer

Answer: B

Explanation:

When needing to scan a large network for open ports quickly, the choice of tool is critical.

Here ’ s why option B is correct:

masscan: This tool is designed for high-speed port scanning and can scan entire networks much faster than traditional tools like Nmap. It can handle large ranges of IP addresses and ports with high efficiency.

Nmap: While powerful and versatile, Nmap is generally slower than masscan for scanning very large networks, especially when speed is crucial.

Burp Suite: This tool is primarily for web application security testing and not optimized for network-wide port scanning.

hping: This is a network tool used for packet crafting and network testing, but it is not designed for

high-speed network port scanning.

Reference from Pentest:

Luke HTB: Highlights the use of efficient tools for large-scale network scanning to identify open ports quickly​.

Anubis HTB: Demonstrates scenarios where high-speed scanning tools like masscan are essential for large network assessments​.