Re: Port Scanner Challenge Revisited: Nmap, Unicornscan, Portbunny

From: Robert E. Lee (robert@outpost24.com)
Date: Wed Feb 06 2008 - 16:27:20 EST


On Mon, 2008-02-04 at 13:15 -0800, Fyodor wrote:
> I wish your mails announcing your "port scanner challenge" (and the
> posts themselves) would disclose that you are the author of
> UnicornScan, which (big surprise) you declared to be the "clear
> winner" of your tests. I'm not accusing you of trying to hide your
> affiliation, it is probably just an oversight on your part.

Do you preface all of your nmap posts with "Fyi, I am the author of
nmap"? :) I assumed that since a link to my blog is on the main
unicornscan page, and my blog links to my unicornscan page, and my email
links to my blog, that the readers can figure that connection out on
their own.

I did 3 rounds of testing and showed nmap to win one, portbunny to win
one, and unicornscan to win one. I will do additional analysis of the
results to explain why each one succeeds or fails.

> I'm not saying the ComputerDefense.Org review was perfect or
> definitive, but at least they are independent. All scanners have
> benefits and drawbacks, and there may be cases where people prefer
> UnicornScan or PortBunny to Nmap, so I'm glad those tools are around
> and I hope they continue to improve.

The first comparison test was run by someone who didn't understand how
to use the tools properly. A comparison test should only be run by
someone familiar enough with the tools involved. I am going out of my
way to document how the tools are run, and to make sure that the test
results are captured.

There is nothing biased in my testing. Being involved with a project
does not invalidate the documented results.

Robert

-- 
Robert E. Lee
Chief Security Officer
Outpost24 - One Step Ahead
http://www.outpost24.com
 
SE Phone: +46 455-61-2320
US Phone: +1 801-924-5902
email: robert@outpost24.com
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