Let’s bring everything together. You know the tools – Nmap, nbtscan, enum4linux, NSE scripts. Now let’s talk about how to use them in a structured workflow, because in the real world, you’re not just running random commands. You’re following a process.

The Active Scanning Workflow

Here’s the approach I use and teach in my workshops:

Step 1: Host Discovery – Find out what’s alive on the network. Start with a ping sweep: nmap -sn 10.0.6.0/24

Step 2: Quick Port Scan – Scan the live hosts for the most common open ports: nmap -sS -T4 -F –open 10.0.6.200-254 -oA quick_scan

Part of the free Intro to Cyber course by Cover6 Solutions.