Introduction

A penetration test can be performed using different approaches, such as Black, Grey, and White box. A Black box test is performed when the testing team doesn't have any previous information about the application to test other than the URL of the server. A White box test is performed when the team has all the information about the target, its infrastructure, software versions, test users, development information, and so on; a Gray box test is intermediate to the Black and White box tests.

For both Black and Gray box tests, a reconnaissance phase is necessary for the testing team to discover the information that is usually provided by the application's owner in a White box approach.

We are going to follow the Black box approach, as it is the one that covers all the steps an external attacker takes to gain enough information in order to compromise certain functions of the application or server.

As a part of every reconnaissance phase in a web penetration test, we will...