I actually got in trouble trying to use netcat for something quite legitimate in my former job at RandomBigCorp... Oops.
At my current place of employment, "hacking tools" are banned. On that list is netcat. It is installed on every unix desktop and server, and I use it daily. I have decided to just not point out the stupidity of this -- they might do something that's even more stupid as a response.
"If you want me to defend you from the bad people on the net, then don't send me to a gun fight with only a knife."
"hacking tools" are banned.
If you are asked about it. The best way is to respond that you use it as a a diagnostic tool or analysis tool.
As for arguing it's not a hacking tool - A person could take something as innocent as VBScript for Office and write viruses with it. Nothing you can do about your tools ability to be abused.
Yes, that Randall Schwartz.
And no blame, but it's probably a good idea to say, "We're scanning for weak passwords" first. The sysadmin at the library I used to work at ran password crackers occasionally, and sent out an e-mail once saying that he suddenly knew a lot of staffs' boyfriends names. It's a delicate issue.