Understanding Cybersecurity Footprinting: Techniques and Strategies
Footprinting, also known as fingerprinting, is a methodology used by penetration testers, cybersecurity professionals, and even threat actors to gather information about a target organization to identify potential vulnerabilities. Footprinting is the first step in penetration testing. It involves scanning open ports, mapping network topologies, and collecting information about hosts, their operating systems, IP addresses, and user accounts.