Definition
Plain language
The scouting phase of an attack — figuring out what you're up against before doing anything.
As stated in the literature
Information gathering that precedes exploitation: identifying software versions, network topology, and privilege boundaries in order to select an applicable vulnerability.
Also called: recon
Why it matters: Attacks succeed mostly by matching a known weakness to the specific software actually in place, so cutting off easy reconnaissance removes much of that advantage.
For example, before trying anything, an attacker might check which version of a web server a site is running and which other machines it can reach.
Heard on the show
“The trace contains an exfiltrated API key and a privilege-relevant filesystem reconnaissance, and the user's final answer is just "the value is X.”Episode 061 — When Helpful Agents Go Sideways: A 404 Error, Campus Security, and Why Alignment Misses This