12 Reconnaissance

• Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is a crucial stage in any cyber attack and refers to the process of gathering information about potential targets, their systems, networks, and vulnerabilities. This information is used by attackers to select which tactics, techniques, or tools will be most effective when attempting to compromise a target system or organization. Reconnaissance can be divided into two primary methods: active and passive.

Active Reconnaissance

In active reconnaissance, attackers directly engage with their target to gather information. This may include scanning networks for open ports or services, attempting to query servers or probing for vulnerabilities. Since the attacker is actively interacting with target systems, it has higher chances of being detected by intrusion detection systems, firewalls or security teams.

Common active reconnaissance tools include

Nmap: A network scanner that can discover hosts, services, and open ports.

Nessus: A vulnerability assessment tool that allows attackers to scan for known vulnerabilities in target systems.

Passive Reconnaissance

In passive reconnaissance, the attacker seeks to gather information about the target without making any contact or directly engaging with target systems. Passive reconnaissance is often harder to detect and involves activities such as social engineering, open-source intelligence (OSINT) gathering, or analyzing leaked data.

Common passive reconnaissance techniques include

• Searching public forums, social media profiles, or websites for information about an organization or its employees.

• Using search engines to find exposed or inadvertently leaked data. Sifting through DNS records and WHOIS information to discover sub-domains and email addresses that might be used in further attacks.

Recommended

• CYBER SECURITY 101/UNDERSTAND COMMON HACKING TOOLS
• CYBER SECURITY 101/UNDERSTAND COMMON EXPLOIT FRAMEWORKS
• CYBER SECURITY 101/UNDERSTAND CONCEPT OF DEFENSE IN DEPTH
• CYBER SECURITY 101/BASICS AND CONCEPTS OF THREAT HUNTING
• CYBER SECURITY 101/BASICS OF REVERSE ENGINEERING
• CYBER SECURITY 101/KALI LINUX
• CYBER SECURITY 101/PARROT OS
• CYBER SECURITY 101/PHISHING
• CYBER SECURITY 101/SHOULDER SURFING
• CYBER SECURITY 101/DUMPSTER DIVING
• CYBER SECURITY 101/TAILGATING
• CYBER SECURITY 101/BRUTE FORCE
• CYBER SECURITY 101/SOCIAL ENGINEERING