Information, Computer and Network Security Terms Glossary and Dictionary

Netcat 

Netcat is a utility for port scanning and transferring information over network connections on either TCP or UDP. It is designed in a thin and simple way, which makes it easy to incorporate in larger applications. The original version of netcat is a UNIX program. Netcat is fully POSIX compatible and there exist several implementations, including a rewrite from scratch known as GNU netcat, and a MS-Windows version of netcat. Also, an encrypted version of netcat named Cryptcat is available for use when security is of concern. On some systems, modified versions or similar utilities go by the command name(s) nc, ncat, pnetcat, socat, sock, socket, spd. Netcat is sometimes detected and flagged up as a security risk by virus scanners and spyware removal software, which may simplistically categorise it as a remote administration tool, or treat it as a hacking tool which may have been planted by malicious software.

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Netcat