TCP Traceroute
TCPTraceroute is a traceroute implementation that uses TCP packets instead of UDP or ICMP packets to send its probes. TCPtraceroute can be used in situations where a firewall blocks ICMP and UDP traffic. It is based on the "half-open scanning" technique that is used by NMAP, sending a TCP with the SYN flag set and waiting for a SYN/ACK (which indicates that something is listening on this port for connections). When it receives a response, the tcptraceroute program sends a packet with a RST flag to close the connection.
References
– Main.TobyRodwell - 06 Apr 2005