Reconnaissance is defined as what?

• A. Exploiting vulnerabilities
• B. Installing backdoors
• C. Denying service
• D. Process of investigating the target organization to gather information from publicly available sources

Answer: (D)

Reconnaissance is the process of investigating the target organization to gather information from publicly available sources. This involves collecting data from open, publicly accessible places like company websites, social media, public records, press releases, DNS records, and other OSINT sources to map the organization’s footprint, technologies in use, personnel, and potential exposure. The goal is to understand the attack surface and plan subsequent steps without directly interacting with the target’s systems in this initial phase. This is different from actions like exploiting vulnerabilities, installing backdoors, or disrupting services, which are active operations that typically come after reconnaissance or as separate activities.