Product Reviews
How Secure is Your Network? Hailstorm 1.02
Seven network scanners test your security before the crackers do.
- By Greg Saoutine
- 09/01/2001
Hailstorm 1.02 is a relatively young product, but it's already becoming
famous—not so much as a scanner, but as a packet creator. It performed
a fairly accurate TCP port scan (SYN) of all 65,535 ports in about 11
minutes. However, the product reported just the ports it found open.
In order to use Hailstorm to its fullest potential, you have to use its
simple API. This allows you to craft your own checks by creating custom
packets. Also, the software is able to interpret Perl scripts, some of
which can be designed as detailed vulnerability tests. Even better, Hailstorm
has a built-in sniffer and is able to replay captured sessions, giving
you the ability to edit captured packets. You can capture the entire scanning
session, make necessary adjustments directly to a packet's payload (or
headers), and repeat the scan. In addition to port scanning, information
gathering and attack simulation, Hailstorm includes a built-in protocol
analyzer and other tools.
About the Author
Greg Saoutine, MCSE, is an IT Consultant working in New York City.