Hack Your Way to Success: 2026 Ethical Hacking Essentials Challenge – Level Up Your Skills!

The correct answer is hping3, which is a network tool capable of crafting and sending custom TCP/IP packets. One of its primary functionalities is to send ICMP echo requests, making it useful for performing ping operations, similar to the traditional ping command. However, its versatility extends beyond just sending ICMP packets; it supports various protocols, including TCP, UDP, and others, allowing for complex scanning and custom communication.

Hping3 is particularly valuable in penetration testing and diagnostic applications, enabling security professionals to test firewall rules, analyze network performance, and detect vulnerabilities.

The other tools mentioned do have their own specific uses but do not meet the criteria outlined in the question. Nbtstat, for example, is primarily a Windows command used to display NetBIOS over TCP/IP statistics for local and remote computers. Wireshark is a packet analysis tool widely used for capturing network traffic and inspecting packets but does not actively send or manipulate packets like hping3. HOIC (High Orbit Ion Cannon) is a stress testing tool typically used for creating Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, but it does not support protocol diversity in the same way as hping3.