Regardless of whether or not you consider yourself to be an “ethical hacker”, someone just using IP range scanner to scan the network for open ports.
IP Range Scanner
Hackers, but not only, are looking to discover potential network security flaws. That in the future can be use to hack into system. That vendors will then work to patch up.
A network administrator that wants to be sure that the security tools you’ve deployed are sufficient enough to keep your network protected.
A pen tester that got a project to find holes on your bank or insurance company.
There is a pretty good option that they are using an IP range scanner as part of the process.
These kinds of tools allow you to look for active open ports, by defined the IPs range across your network.
Any open port can be a potential security flaws that your system may have when it comes to exploiting that haven’t been addressed already.
The right IP range scanner provides you with the ability to do this type of security audit all on your own.
By giving you the first-hand data you need to make the right decisions going forward about how you further secure and lock down networks that you are investigating.
At the same time, even those that aren’t interested in looking for security flaws in particular – for any reason whatsoever – can make use of powerful IP range scanning tools.
Those that want to really optimize their network can run IP range scanners on their own networks. Using it to find the IP addresses of all active devices on that network. Later assign static IP addresses to those devices for improved performance or disconnect the devices.,
IP range scan can also help in troubleshooting network problems that would have been difficult to discover otherwise.
There are a couple of different IP range scanner options available on the market today.
Including some quality options that are available 100% free and open source. And other that cost money.
Here’s what you need to look for in these kinds of tools before you start to download and deploy them.
Usability of IP range scanner tool:
While a lot of people look at power features and the underlying technology that makes particular IP range scanner tools work in the first place. When they start to research these kinds of options, the first thing that you have to be paying attention to must be the overall usability of that solution.
Far too many people and up with tools that are designed to be expressly used by power users, experienced IT professionals, and network administrators with years and years of experience with IP scanning/port scanning under their belt already – and then discover just how far in over their heads they are when they go to deploy these supercharged solutions.
It’s important to make a real-world assessment about what you’re looking to do with these tools and whether or not they are going to be able to provide you with the kind of options you can reasonably deploy on your own.
If you aren’t comfortable using the power features that some of the top tier IP scanning options provide you might want to look for something with a more usable user interface or GUI.
Even if it means slightly handicapping the robust features and some of the other more difficult to use options provide.
Cross Platform Capabilities IP Scanners:
Another important thing to be on the lookout for when going after new IP range scanner tools is that they provide as much cross-platform capability as possible.
Helping you to not only identify IP addresses across a wide variety of network systems but also giving you the ability to deploy these tools across a variety of platforms as well.
Getting your hands on a top-tier Windows environment IP range scanner is going to be perfectly fine if you are always operating in Windows on your networks.
But what if you are going to be using a Mac every now and again, or what if you want to do these kinds of IP scans from a mobile device like your phone or tablet?
Cross-platform capabilities make all of this possible. It’s definitely a feature that you’ll want to focus prominently in the IP range scanner you end up moving forward with.
Speed and Flexibility in IP addresses scan:
Speed and flexibility are two major pieces of the puzzle when hunting for this kind of tool.
Depending on the amount of IP addresses you could potentially identify on a network (there’s a world of difference between the amount of IP addresses you can find on a home network versus a corporate network) the feasibility of manually doing ANY of this heavy lifting on your own is sure to be daunting.
A tool that can quickly scan for IP ranges without bogging down your client, your server, or your network itself is going to allow for a lot more flexibility in its deployment than one that slowly and methodically chugs along while consuming all kinds of resources at the same time.
Flexibility should be a cornerstone feature of these kinds of scanners, too.
You want to get your hands on a tool that’s going to act a little bit like a Swiss Army knife in a variety of different network situations.
The more flexibility and the more adaptability on a particular network platform you get out of these kinds of tools, the better off you are going to be.
Pay Attention to Open Source Options:
For a variety of different reasons you may or may not be able to take advantage of open source software (depending on the rules your network operates).
By and how it feels about open source software being introduced to these kinds of networks.
But whenever you have the opportunity you should at least investigate these kinds of options.
Some of the best reviewed IP range scanner tools out there on the market right now are open source.
With a transparent code base that you can independently verify on your own if you have any security concerns whatsoever.
Open source tools are more frequently updated, faster improved, and right there on the bleeding edge of IP range scanning.
Network administration tools in a way that commercially available projects (with smaller development teams) cannot be.
At the end of the day, you want to find tools that you are comfortable with. Tools that you can learn top to bottom, and tools that work in a variety of different situations. The tips and tricks we highlight above can certainly help you do that.