# Reconnaissance ## Passive information gathering (OSINT) Passive information gathering is about collecting information about a target from public sources, such as search engines, social media and organizational websites. This work is usually performed before the penetration test, or is part of the scoping exercise. The reason it is considered passive is that the activities aren't intrusive or highly detectable like scanning servers or other assets. ## Active information gathering Active information gathering is the processes of gathering information about a system or network to better understand the attack surface (opportunities for exploitation) before a penetration test. It's usually more prone to detection because it involves port scanning, service enumeration and OS fingerprinting. Enumeration should be as comprehensive as possible, for example don't forget to scan TCP, UDP and higher port ranges. Many services can reside on higher ports, including common ones like **ssh**. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://vulp3cula.gitbook.io/hackers-grimoire/recon.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.