Why is NBNS useful in analysis?

• A. It reveals device names and roles.
• B. It speeds up HTTP requests.
• C. It encrypts traffic.
• D. It resolves domain names on the internet.

Answer: (A)

NetBIOS Name Service (NBNS) maps NetBIOS names to IP addresses on a local network. In captures, NBNS queries and responses reveal the actual device names, so you can identify which host is which. Often those hostnames reflect the device’s role (for example a server, file share, or printer), so you can infer how devices are being used in the network. This makes NBNS especially valuable for asset discovery and mapping during analysis. It isn’t about speeding up HTTP traffic, it doesn’t encrypt traffic, and DNS handles internet domain name resolution rather than NetBIOS names on the LAN.