Chapter 1
Engagement Management
Course: Comptia Pentest Pt0 003
Subject: Comptia Pentest Plus
Chapter: Reconnaissance And Enumeration
1. Active and Passive Reconnaissance
Active Reconnaissance
Active reconnaissance involves direct interaction with the target system to collect information. Since this method sends requests to the target, it is more likely to be detected by security systems and may trigger alerts.
Techniques and Tools for Active Reconnaissance
1.1 Port Scanning using Nmap
Objective: Identify open ports, running services, and firewall rules. Tool: Nmap
Command example:
bash
nmap -sV -p 1-65535
- -sV enables service version detection.
- -p 1-65535 scans all ports to detect open and filtered ports.
Use case: An attacker can identify open SSH, RDP, or HTTP ports to determine possible attack vectors.
1.2 Web Application Scanning using Burp Suite or OWASP ZAP
Objective: Identify security flaws in web applications, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and authentication vulnerabilities. Tools: Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP