Select Target
The first thing to decide on is what you want to scan. With this system you are able to scan a single hostname, IP Address or a range of IP Addresses. Typically it is a good idea to scan an IP Address rather than a hostname. If you have a load balancer, CDN provider or your DNS changes the hostname to IP Address resolution may not be consistent and this can result in different scan results between scans.

If entering a range of IP Addresses ensure you use the format:

192.168.1.10-20

This will scan 10 IP Addresses between 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.1.20

Keep in mind that the system will first Ping an IP Address to see if it is responding before it will start to scan the target. If your border firewall or gateway drops ICMP this system may not work on your Internet facing hosts. You will typically see that no hosts responded in the Nmap Results.

Select Ports to Scan
The number of ports to scan, will depend on your reasons for the scan. Using all ports (65535) will result in a significantly longer scan time. While the lower port options of Quick Test or Fast Scan will have the 12 most common or 1000 most common ports scanned respectively.

Select IPv4 or IPv6
With the increasing take up of IPv6 enabled systems; this tool allows you to target both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. Note that scanning a range of IPv6 addresses is not possible due to the nature of the protocol. It is recommended if you have dual stack (with both IPv4 and IPv6) to enable a separate scanning monitor for each address. This will ensure your port scanning is consistent and your results can be compared between the two addresses.

Choose a schedule
You have the option of a daily scan or a weekly scan, select the Daily option or if you would like a Weekly Scan choose the day. It is recommended to pick a time when you are typically at your desk so that you can respond to the results immediately if there is a change in your environment detected.

Agree to Terms of Service
As with all our scans you must agree to the terms of service. Port scanning is a security testing tool and therefore there is always a small chance that systems may be affected by the scan. Only scan systems you have permission to scan, and this includes internal permission from someone in your company with authority to give this permission. It is possible these types of security tests will trigger alarms within your infrastructure; so it is a good idea to also give anyone monitoring these systems a heads up!