Which statement best describes a ping sweep in network discovery?

• A. It enumerates open ports on a single host
• B. It transfers DNS zone data
• C. It identifies live hosts by pinging a range of addresses
• D. It floods the network with ICMP requests

Answer: (C)

A ping sweep is a network discovery technique that checks a range of IP addresses by sending ICMP echo requests (pings) and noting which addresses reply. This quickly reveals which hosts are live on the network, providing a map of active devices without probing ports. It differs from enumerating open ports on a single host, which tests services on one machine; from transferring DNS zone data, which copies DNS records; and from flooding the network with ICMP requests, which aims to overwhelm devices. In practice, some devices may not respond due to firewalls or rate limiting, so a sweep might miss some live hosts, but the core idea is identifying reachable hosts by pinging a range of addresses.