We showed you some of the tools we use to discover the extents of a target network. We use most of these tools every single week. The first three, Nmap, Zenmap, and OpenVAS, are in use daily. Maltego and KeepNote help you keep your evidence in order. Unicorn-Scan is an interesting alternative to Nmap. EtherApe is really a tool you can use as a graphical display of what is happening in your network. Just run it on a utility box with the output screen where you can see it. You will be able to see traffic issues before your IPS sends an alert. If you have been trying things out as you went along, you should be able to produce a complete and precise overview of the network, and be able to start targeting specific machines for attacks in any network.

In the next chapter, we'll be learning the use of tools to exploit several common windows vulnerabilities and guidelines to create and implement new exploits for upcoming vulnerabilities.