Enumeration Using NTP

Another effective way to gather information about a network and the resources on it is through use of the Network Time Protocol (NTP). Before you look at how to exploit this protocol for information-gathering purposes, you need to understand what the protocol does and what purpose it serves.

NTP is a protocol used to synchronize the clocks across the hosts on a network. The importance of the protocol is extremely high considering that directory services rely on clock settings for logon purposes.

The following commands can be used against an NTP server:
■ ntpdate
■ ntptrace
■ ntpdc
■ ntpq