What is netstat?
Netstat — derived from the words network and statistics — is a program that’s controlled via commands issued in the command line. It delivers basic statistics on all network activities and informs users on which portsand addresses the corresponding connections (TCP, UDP) are running and which ports are open for tasks. In 1983, netstat was first implemented into the Unix derivative BSD (Berkley Software Distribution), whose version 4.2 supported the first internet protocol family, TCP/IP. netstat has been integrated into Linux since its debut in 1991 and has been present in Windows since the appearance of version 3.11 (1993), which could also communicate via TCP/IP with the help of extensions. While the parameters of netstat’s commands (as well as their outputs) differ from system to system, when it comes to their functions, the various implementations are very similar.
netstat is a command line program and for this reason doesn’t feature a graphical user interface. Programs like TCPView, which was developed by the Microsoft division Windows Sysinternals, makes it possible for statistics to be displayed graphically.
Examples of netstat
List of all connections for the IPv4 protocol
If you don't want to retrieve all active connections, but only all active IPv4 connections, you can do this using the netstat command:
Command : netstat -p IP
Accessing statistics using the ICMPv6 protocol
If you only want to obtain statistics on the ICMPv6 protocol, enter the following command in the command line:
Command: netstat -s -p icmpv6
Repetitive query of interface statistics (every 20 seconds)
Use the following netstat command for a repeated query of the interface statistics, which returns new values every 20 seconds on received and sent data packets:
Command: netstat -e 20
Display of all open ports and active connections (numeric and process ID included)
One of the most popular netstat commands is undoubtedly to query all open ports and active connections (including process ID) in numeric form:
Command: netstat -ano
Why netstat is helpful?
Possible infections can be caught based on unknown opened ports or unknown IP addresses. In order to obtain an informative result, all other programs, such as your internet browser, should be turned off. This is due to the fact that these are often connected with computers that possess unknown IP addresses.
It’s advantageous to be informed about the inbound and outbound connections to your computer. These are created via their respective network addresses that indicate which ports were preemptively opened for exchanging data. Once a port is opened, it receives the status “LISTEN” and waits for connection attempts. One problem of having these ports remain open is that your system is then left vulnerable to malware. What’s more, there’s also a chance that Trojan viruses already found in your system may install a backdoor, opening up a corresponding port in the process. For this reason, you should always regularly check the ports opened by your system.
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Commands
Endpoint Threat Protection security
Examples
ICMP
IOPS
ipv4
ipv6
Linux. Commands
netstat
port connections
port listen
port to IP
Security
TCp
TCP/IP
Threat Protection
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