CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-002) — Question 113

A penetration tester is attempting to discover live hosts on a subnet quickly.
Which of the following commands will perform a ping scan?

Answer options

• A. nmap -sn 10.12.1.0/24
• B. nmap -sV -A 10.12.1.0/24
• C. nmap -Pn 10.12.1.0/24
• D. nmap -sT -p- 10.12.1.0/24

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The command 'nmap -sn 10.12.1.0/24' is correct because it performs a ping scan, which identifies live hosts without port scanning. The other options involve more comprehensive scans; for example, '-sV -A' runs service/version detection and OS detection, while '-Pn' skips the ping scan altogether, and '-sT -p-' performs a TCP connect scan on all ports.