Intelligence and Footprinting Information
The intelligence and footprinting information that can be obtained from the listed sites
Intelligence gathering and foot-printing refer to a process where rigorous information collection about a target for reasons such as penetrating or gaining access into systems that are otherwise restricted to authorized accesses only. For intelligence gathering and foot-printing processes to be successful, there must be a mechanism of collecting as much information as possible about the target. A hacker, whether ethical or not, must prioritize spending a significant amount of time to conduct organizational profiling, thereby gathering vital information related to the immediate host, individuals, networks connected to the organization.
As earlier mentioned, the kind of information targeted through intelligence gathering and foot-printing in many cases are considered to be strategic information and includes such as DNS details, IP address, the operating system underutilization, records, phone numbers, employee email id, among others.
Ways in which Footprinting and Intelligence Gathering aid Hackers’ Activities as they carry out reconnaissance on the Target System
Footprinting helps hackers or at least individuals to breach security protocols of network systems belonging to the targeted organization in several ways. First, it helps them to understand the security posture of the targeted infrastructure. The data collected helps by presenting an overview of the security map of the organization under focus (Footprinting or Intelligence Gathering, 2020). Some of the critical areas of interest under the banner of an organization’s security posture include information on the presence of a firewall, applications in use, and security configurations, among others. The footprinting also aids the hacker’s activity by reducing the attack area. This involves the identification of specific system ranges by concentrating the focus on particular areas only. The reduction of attack area helps with limiting the number of systems that the hacker will be focusing on.
Another way in which footprinting and intelligence gathering help hackers in their mission as they carry out reconnaissance on the target system is through the identification of vulnerabilities. Serious hackers go extra by constructing comprehensive information databases that act as a repository to all types of threats, vulnerabilities as well as loopholes available in the system of the target company (Greycampus, 2020). Finally, footprinting and intelligence gathering help hackers in their mission to successfully breach existing organization systems by drawing a network map—some types of attack called for a full understanding of the network layout of an organization. The layout information, as presented in a network map, provides topology information, the number of servers in the network, and accompanying it with information regarding their specifications as well as locations. The same information can be revealed about trusted routers in the entire network system. The location and specification of each router in the respective network can be revealed through the network map.
Conclusion
Foot-printing and Intelligence gathering is all about information collection about target systems or organizations for reasons such as penetrating or gaining access into systems that are otherwise restricted to authorized accesses only. There are four ways in which footprinting and intelligence gathering aid hackers’ activities as they carry out reconnaissance on the target systems. They include understanding the security posture of the targeted infrastructure, identification of vulnerabilities, reducing attack area, and drawing a network map.
Open Ports
Using the Nmap tool perform the open port scan, the outcome is as shown on the screenshot below.
The tool is set to scan TCP ports only as per the instructions.
Three ports, 21, 25, and 80 are all open ports. If port 80 can be blocked, no network user can be able to download even a single website. If network internal settings can be manipulated to block port 21, file movement in the network can effectively be halted.
References
Footprinting or Intelligence Gathering (Ethical Hacking). Gicseh.com. (2020). Retrieved 21 June 2020, from https://gicseh.com/footprinting-or-intelligence-gathering.php.
Greycampus. Greycampus.com. (2020). Retrieved 21 June 2020, from https://www.greycampus.com/opencampus/ethical-hacking/what-is-footprinting.