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Portfwd VS netcat

Compare Portfwd VS netcat and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

Portfwd logo Portfwd

Portfwd, Port Forwarding Daemon, stands for port forwarding daemon.

netcat logo netcat

Netcat is a featured networking utility which reads and writes data across network connections...
  • Portfwd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-22
  • netcat Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-11-19

Portfwd features and specs

  • Open Source
    Portfwd is open source software, allowing users to freely use, modify, and distribute it as per their needs.
  • Port Forwarding
    It efficiently forwards ports from one network interface to another, enabling network traffic management across multiple systems.
  • Versatility
    The tool supports a wide range of platforms and can be used in different network setups to reroute traffic.
  • Lightweight
    Portfwd is lightweight, making it suitable for systems with limited resources.

Possible disadvantages of Portfwd

  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up Portfwd can be complex, particularly for users unfamiliar with network configurations, as it requires manual editing of configuration files.
  • Limited Documentation
    The available documentation and user guides are limited, which can pose challenges for new users needing guidance.
  • Lack of Active Development
    The tool may not be actively maintained or updated, potentially leading to security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues with newer systems.
  • Command Line Interface
    Portfwd primarily uses a command-line interface, which might not be user-friendly for individuals preferring graphical user interfaces.

netcat features and specs

  • Versatility
    Netcat can be used for a wide variety of network-related tasks, including port scanning, file transfers, and working as a backdoor.
  • Simplicity
    Netcat operates with simple command-line arguments, making it easy to use for those familiar with command-line interfaces.
  • Speed
    Netcat is lightweight and performs network operations quickly, without the overhead associated with more complex tools.
  • Scriptability
    Netcat is highly scriptable, allowing users to automate network tasks by including it in bash or other scripts.
  • Cross-Platform
    Netcat is available on multiple operating systems including Unix, Linux, and Windows, making it a versatile tool for different environments.

Possible disadvantages of netcat

  • Security
    Netcat can be misused, as it is often favored by attackers for creating reverse shells and other malicious activities.
  • Lack of Encryption
    Netcat does not natively support encrypted connections, meaning data transmitted can be vulnerable to interception.
  • Minimal Logging
    Netcat provides minimal logging capabilities, which can make it difficult to track usage or troubleshoot issues.
  • Basic Functionality
    Netcat provides core networking functions but lacks advanced features found in specialized tools.
  • Cannot Handle High Load
    Netcat is not designed to handle high traffic loads effectively, making it less suitable for some enterprise use cases.

Portfwd videos

+ Add

Master in Hacking with Metasploit #89 Portfwd Metasploit

netcat videos

+ Add

Linux Terminal 101: Netcat

More videos:

  • Review - Advanced Netcat and TCP Fun - Hak5 1922
  • Review - Netcat 101: Remote Shells in Windows, HakTip 86

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Portfwd and netcat)

Portfwd

netcat

Monitoring Tools
31 31%
Monitoring Tools
69% 69
Log Management
33 33%
Log Management
67% 67
Productivity
32 32%
Productivity
68% 68
Network & Admin
100 100%
Network & Admin
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Portfwd and netcat

Portfwd Reviews

We have no reviews of Portfwd yet.
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netcat Reviews

9 Best Angry IP Scanner Alternatives Reviewed 2021 (Free & Paid)
Netcat lacks a lot of the documentation you can easily find with software like AngryIP or Nmap which in my opinion is its biggest drawback. If you’re thinking about trying out Netcat, check out our Netcat Cheat Sheet to quickly pull up powerful and useful commands. Netcat is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS systems.
Source: www.comparitech.com
Top 5 Best Port Scanners
Netcat is one of the oldest network tools in the "Unixverse", it's been there since 1995, and the last official version is from 2004. Although it has many forks and variants that work pretty well on modern operating systems, like ncat from the Nmap suite, or this alternative Netcat version from Mike Frysinger.
Source: securitytrails.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, netcat seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Portfwd mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Portfwd yet. Tracking of Portfwd recommendations started around Mar 2021.

netcat mentions (7)

  • could not connect to the rhel-9 from putty in windows machine
    If you don't like using telnet, that's fine. Don't use it. There are plenty of other options available. Use netcat. Or use netcat. Or use netcat. Or read and write directly to /dev/tcp/hostname/port using shell constructs. Or run openssl s_client if you suspect something complicated is listening on the other end. There is more than one way to do it and ways that are not your way still work. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • The HTTP crash course nobody asked for
    Reminder, there are many different netcats, here are some of the most commons: - netcat-traditional http://www.stearns.org/nc/ - netcat-openbsd : https://github.com/openbsd/src/blob/master/usr.bin/nc/netcat.c (also packaged in Debian) - ncat https://nmap.org/ncat/ - netcat GNU: https://netcat.sourceforge.net/ (quite rare) To prevent any confusion, I like to recommend socat: http://www.dest-unreach.org/socat/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Gaining remote access to a computer with a reverse shell attack in Node.js
    A common tool to execute a reverse shell is called netcat. If you're using macOS, it should be installed by default. You can check by running nc -help in a terminal window. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Programm to send and receive TCP/UDP Packets
    You could try using Ncat on Windows or netcat on Linux, though it's a command-line only tool if that matters. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Is there a way to copy a file from a remote shell to local without using scp?
    If you have netcat, you can easily set up a transfer from one machine to the other:. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Portfwd and netcat, you can also consider the following products

Simple Port Forwarding - Simple Port Forwarding works with WebPages and not directly with your router.

Wireshark - Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer for Unix and Windows. It lets you capture and interactively browse the traffic running on a computer network.

socat - socat is a relay for bidirectional data transfer between two independent data channels.

Ettercap - Ettercap is a suite for man in the middle attacks on LAN.

PortMapper - Do you need to map a specific TCP or UDP port on your machine to another port on another machine?

tcpdump - tcpdump is a common packet analyzer that runs under the command line.

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