Reconnaissance 🔍

Understand how attackers think.

Attackers rarely start with code exploits — they begin with information gathering. That might be scanning GitHub repos for leaked secrets, searching public registries for weak points, or monitoring developer chatter for insights.

Why Reconnaissance Matters

  • For developers: Learn how reconnaissance is performed against your stack. Run OSINT checks on your own repos. Search for typosquatting versions of your dependencies. Review your CI logs for leaks.
  • For leaders: Recognise that reconnaissance is cheap and automated. If sensitive details are left exposed, they will be found.

Key insight: By teaching developers how attackers research targets, we build awareness that prevents “low-hanging fruit” mistakes — the kind regulators and customers increasingly see as negligence.

What Attackers Look For

Public Code Repositories

  • Leaked secrets in commit history (API keys, passwords, tokens)
  • Dependency information for supply chain attacks
  • Internal naming conventions for social engineering
  • Architecture details from configuration files

Package Ecosystems

  • Popular packages to typosquat or compromise
  • Unmaintained dependencies for hijacking attacks
  • Namespace confusion opportunities
  • Version pinning weaknesses

Infrastructure Footprints

  • Exposed endpoints and services
  • Subdomain enumeration for attack surface mapping
  • SSL certificate transparency logs
  • DNS records revealing internal structure

Social Engineering Intel

  • Developer profiles on GitHub, LinkedIn, Twitter
  • Conference talks revealing technical details
  • Job postings describing tech stack
  • Support forum discussions about problems

Daily Security Hygiene

New vulnerabilities and software weaknesses are discovered constantly. Reconnaissance is about staying current with:

  • Technical consequences of new discoveries
  • Exploitation likelihood and impact assessment
  • General drive-by attacks happening in the background
  • AI weaponization by threat actors

AI-Specific Threats

Modern reconnaissance includes AI-related attack vectors: - AI tools as weapons for enhanced automation - Misapplied AI creating new vulnerabilities - AI supply chain dependencies and risks

External Factors

Developers must understand external elements affecting security: - Legislation and regulations (CRA, NIS2, EO 14028) - Attacker motivations and economic drivers - Threat landscape changes and emerging patterns

Goal

Understand the attacker’s first moves and build defenses that anticipate them.

Core Activities

  • Threat modeling quick-start: Map your attack surface
  • Asset & endpoint discovery: Know what you’re protecting
  • Public footprint analysis: See yourself as attackers do
  • OSINT self-assessment: Find your own exposed data