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Netcat is a simple Unix utility which reads and writes data across
network connections using TCP or UDP protocol.  It is designed to be a
reliable "back-end" tool that can be used directly or easily driven by
other programs and scripts.  At the same time it is a feature-rich
network debugging and exploration tool, since it can create almost any
kind of connection you would need and has several interesting built-in
capabilities.

Some of netcat's major features are:

    Outbound or inbound connections, TCP or UDP, to or from any ports
    Full DNS forward/reverse checking, with appropriate warnings
    Ability to use any local source port
    Ability to use any locally-configured network source address
    Built-in port-scanning capabilities, with randomizer
    Built-in loose source-routing capability
    Can read command line arguments from standard input
    Slow-send mode, one line every N seconds
    Hex dump of transmitted and received data
    Optional ability to let another program service established connections
    Optional telnet-options responder

A very short list of potential uses:

    Script backends
    Scanning ports and inventorying services, automated probes
    Backup handlers
    File transfers
    Server testing, simulation, debugging, and hijacking
    Firewall testing
    Proxy gatewaying
    Network performance testing
    Address spoofing tests
    Protecting X servers
    1001 other uses you'll likely come up with

_H* 960320