In the last module, we gathered intelligence without the target ever knowing. That was passive recon. Now we’re switching gears.

Active scanning means you’re directly interacting with the target’s systems. You’re sending packets to their network, probing their ports, and trying to figure out exactly what they’re running. Unlike passive recon, this can be detected – firewalls can log it, intrusion detection systems can flag it, and security teams can see it happening.

That’s why in a real penetration test, you don’t jump straight to active scanning. You do your passive recon first, understand the landscape, and then move into active scanning with purpose.

What are we trying to learn?

During active scanning and enumeration, you’re looking for:

Live hosts – Which machines are actually up and responding?

Part of the free Intro to Cyber course by Cover6 Solutions.