Unveiling the Secrets: A Practical Approach to Penetration Testing Information Gathering

Unveiling the Secrets: A Practical Approach to Penetration Testing Information Gathering

Learning Objective

Understand the importance of information gathering in penetration testing.

What do you already know about penetration testing information gathering?

Introduction to Information Gathering

Information gathering is the initial phase of penetration testing, involving collecting data about the target.

Passive Information Gathering Techniques

Discuss passive techniques such as open-source intelligence (OSINT) and social media analysis.

Active Information Gathering Techniques

Explore active techniques including port scanning, network mapping, and DNS enumeration.

Utilizing Tools for Information Gathering

Introduce popular tools like Nmap, Shodan, and Maltego for efficient information gathering.

Ethical and Legal Considerations

Highlight the ethical and legal aspects of information gathering to ensure responsible conduct.

Challenges and Best Practices

Address challenges such as information obfuscation and emphasize best practices for effective information gathering.

Hands-On Exercise

Engage in a practical exercise to gather information from a simulated target network.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.