Fragmenting

The -f option splits the IP packet into tiny fragments when used with -sS, -sF, -sX or -sN. This makes it more difficult for a firewall or packet filter to determine the packet type. Note that many modern packet filters and firewalls (including iptables) feature optional defragmenters for such fragmented packets, and will thus reassemble the packet to check its type before sending it on. Less complex firewalls will not be able to cope with fragmented packets this small and will most likely let the OS reassemble them and send them to the port they were intended to reach. Using this option could crash some less stable software and hardware since packet sizes get pretty small with this option!