Reconnaissance attack
A reconnaissance attack is the systematic gathering of information about potential targets, systems, people, or environments to support subsequent attacks.
Acing the CCNA Exam: Volume 2 Advanced Networking and Security
A reconnaissance attack gathers information about a target for use in a future attack.
- How it is used
- Frames reconnaissance as an information-gathering phase that supports future attacks.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the purpose and OSINT relationship, but stops short of detailed reconnaissance procedures or defensive configuration.
- Examples
- Uses WHOIS lookups to illustrate how publicly available domain-owner information can support reconnaissance.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate whether information gathering represents reconnaissance and identify OSINT as a common method.
Introduction to Generative AI, Second Edition
Reconnaissance is the systematic collection of information about a target's systems, people, or environment before or during an attack.
- How it is used
- Deploys reconnaissance in offensive cyber operations and defensive penetration testing.
- How deep it goes
- Explains infrastructure mapping, network scanning, and vulnerability identification, but stops short of implementation details.
- Examples
- Uses APT infrastructure mapping and PentestGPT network scanning as examples of AI-assisted reconnaissance.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate how AI-assisted reconnaissance accelerates attack preparation and supports authorized vulnerability assessment.
Read how Introduction to Generative AI, Second Edition explains reconnaissance attack →
Related concepts
- continuous improvementpart of · Continuous improvement is an ongoing process of evaluating outcomes and making successive changes to improve a system, process, or result.
- pipelineused by · A pipeline is an ordered or coordinated sequence of connected processing stages or tasks that passes data, work, or results toward an outcome.
- planningconfigured by · Planning is the process of formulating and organizing intended actions or steps toward a goal, often accounting for dependencies, conditions, or constraints.
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