Summary
Reconnaissance is performed by both attackers and defenders. Both sides seek to gather information about potential targets using port scans, vulnerability scans, and information gathering, thus creating a view of an organization’s networks and systems. Security professionals may use the information they gather to improve their defensive posture or to identify potential issues. Attackers may find the information they need to attack vulnerable infrastructure.
Organizational intelligence gathering is often performed in addition to the technical information that is often gathered during footprinting and active reconnaissance activities. Organizational intelligence focuses on information about an organization, such as its physical location and facilities security, internal hierarchy and structure, social media and web presence, and how policies and procedures work. This information can help attackers perform social engineering attacks or better leverage the information they...