One primary aspect of the present disclosure is a method of remotely identifying operating system of a remote network element, wherein the remote network element has a plurality of ports and an Internet connection, the method comprising: scanning the ports of the remote network element for determining which ports are open of the plurality of ports; sending, by a processor, a sequence of packets to the remote network element over the internet, and wherein packets in the sequence of packets are different from one another; receiving reply-packets from the remote network element, wherein the reply-packets are the reply of the remote network element to the packets, and analyzing a signature of the reply-packets; and identifying the operating system of remote network element by comparing the signature with documented signatures of existing operating systems.