Nmap 6.0 Released

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Major enhancements debut with the latest release of the popular Nmap security scanner.

The Nmap Project has announced the immediate, free availability of the Nmap Security Scanner version 6.0. According to the announcement, this release is the product of almost three years of work, 3,924 code commits, and more than a dozen point releases since Nmap 5 was released in 2009. 

Nmap (which stands for Network Mapper) is a free and open source (license) utility for network discovery and security auditing. According to the website, the major enhancements in this version include:

  • Enhanced Nmap Scripting Engine
  • Better web scanning
  • Full IPv6 support
  • New Nping tool
  • Better Zenmap GUI and results viewer
  • Faster scans

The development team recommends that all current users upgrade to the new version.

With the release of version 6 complete, the Nmap developers are looking ahead to the next development cycle. According to the future plans on the website, features in the works include: an updater system for obtaining the latest NSE scripts, OS fingerprint updates, high-speed port scanning through http or socks proxies, and even more NSE scripts.

Extensive information about this latest release is available at: http://nmap.org/6/.

05/25/2012

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