Identify At Least Two Ways Hackers Gather Information

Identify At Least Two Ways In Which Hackers Gather Information About C

Hackers employ various techniques to gather information about companies to facilitate cyberattacks or system infiltrations. Two common methods include reconnaissance through social engineering and network scanning. Social engineering involves manipulating employees or stakeholders to reveal sensitive information voluntarily, often via phishing emails or pretexting techniques (Mitnick & Simon, 2002). Network scanning, on the other hand, involves using automated tools to probe company networks for open ports, active services, and vulnerabilities that can be exploited (Scarfone & Mell, 2007).

Companies can mitigate these risks by implementing strict security policies such as employee training to recognize social engineering attempts and enforcing minimal privilege access to limit the information disclosed to outsiders. They should also deploy robust firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and regular network audits to detect and block suspicious activities. Enumeration, a method used to gather detailed information about network resources, can reveal active hosts, network shares, user accounts, and services. Protecting against enumeration involves closing unused ports, disabling unnecessary services, and employing strong authentication measures, which reduce the attack surface and make it more difficult for hackers to collect actionable information (Howard & Longstaff, 1998).

References

  • Howard, M., & Longstaff, T. (1998). Threat modeling and defenses against reconnaissance attacks. IEEE Security & Privacy, 68-77.
  • Mitnick, K. D., & Simon, W. L. (2002). The art of deception: Control the human element of security. Wiley.
  • Scarfone, K., & Mell, P. (2007). Guide to Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS). NIST Special Publication 800-94.