FOOTPRINTING

WHAT IS FOOTPRINTING?
The systematic footprinting of an organization enables attackers to create a complete profile
of an organization’s security posture. By using a combination of tools and techniques,
attackers can take an unknown quantity (Widget Company’s Internet connection) and reduce
it to a specific range of domain names, network blocks, and individual IP addresses
of systems directly connected to the Internet. While there are many types of footprinting
techniques, they are primarily aimed at discovering information related to the following
environments: Internet, intranet, remote access, and extranet. Table 1-1 depicts these environments
and the critical information an attacker will try to identify.
Why Is Footprinting Necessary?
Footprinting is necessary to systematically and methodically ensure that all pieces of information
related to the aforementioned technologies are identified. Without a sound
methodology for performing this type of reconnaissance, you are likely to miss key pieces
of information related to a specific technology or organization. Footprinting is often the
most arduous task of trying to determine the security posture of an entity; however, it is
one of the most important. Footprinting must be performed accurately and in a controlled
fashion.