📡 Reconnaissance: The Art of Information Gathering

Reconnaissance is the first and one of the most critical phases in any security assessment. The goal is to gather as much information as possible about a target to identify potential vulnerabilities and build a comprehensive understanding of its attack surface.

Passive vs. Active Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance can be broadly categorized into two types:

• Passive Reconnaissance: Gathering information without directly interacting with the target's systems. This is a stealthy approach that relies on publicly available information.
• Active Reconnaissance: Directly probing the target's systems to gather information. This approach can be more intrusive and may be detected by the target.

Key Areas of Reconnaissance

This section covers the following key areas of reconnaissance:

OSINT Techniques

Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) involves collecting information from publicly available sources like search engines, social media, and public records.

Subdomain Enumeration

Discovering subdomains associated with a target domain to expand the attack surface.

Port Scanning

Identifying open ports and running services on the target's systems.

Content Discovery

Finding hidden files, directories, and other content on web servers.

Tools

A collection of popular and effective tools for reconnaissance.