Footprinting and Reconnaissance
📘 Cyber Security & Ethical Hacking
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📅 Nov 05, 2025
⏱ Estimated reading time: 1 min
Definition:
Footprinting and Reconnaissance are the first phases of ethical hacking, where an attacker or security tester collects information about a target system or organization to identify possible entry points.
Footprinting
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Passive information gathering
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Collects data without directly interacting with the target
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Examples: Domain details, IP addresses, DNS records, employee info
Reconnaissance
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Can be passive or active
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Involves limited interaction with the target system
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Examples: Network scanning, port scanning, service detection
Purpose
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Understand the target’s infrastructure
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Identify vulnerabilities
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Plan further security testing or attacks
Conclusion
Footprinting and reconnaissance help ethical hackers analyze system exposure and improve security by identifying weak points early.
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