Study of tools for recognition activity

Digitization and the exponential increase of computerized systems have magnified the need to implement strategies that allow professionals to identify points of weakness and vulnerabilities, which affect information, to address them before they can be exploited by attackers. In this context, recognition has established itself as an essential tactic in cybersecurity.

Recognition consists of obtaining information about an objective, such as, for example, the technologies used in the organization, its business processes or the different data of its personnel. Currently, it combines a set of strategies and tools that are essential in both defense and attack.

Defensively, it provides organizations with a comprehensive understanding of their digital infrastructure, helping to identify and prevent vulnerabilities. Offensively, during penetration testing, reconnaissance is crucial to understanding the target's infrastructure, as it allows vital information to be collected and thus be able to plan and perform a test attack more effectively.

Recognition technologies have evolved to automate and streamline many of these processes. These can include port scanning tools, packet sniffers,  vulnerability scanners, metadata finders, etc. The tool used can greatly facilitate the recognition process, allowing security experts to focus on analyzing the results and planning the measures to be taken.

In the preparation of this study, the MITRE ATT&CK framework has been used as a reference. This resource provides a global knowledge base on different tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), providing valuable insight into the role of recognition in cybersecurity.

With this study, we seek to provide advanced knowledge about recognition in cybersecurity, so that professionals can consider these techniques in their own security strategies. Different types of techniques are defined that can be applied to obtain sensitive information from organizations, explaining, in addition, the strategies to mitigate or remedy them.

• The full study can be downloaded at the following link: 
  Study of tools for recognition activity