Assignment Application: Perform Data Gathering and Footprinting on a Targeted Website

You might be wondering how some hackers select their targets. Well, the answer is surprisingly simple-Internet research.

The Internet provides a wealth of information on seemingly any topic and a means of connecting information.

Because of this, hackers can create significant dossiers on potential targets.

As an IT professional, you will want to be familiar with your company's Internet footprint and, when possible, reduce this attack surface by removing or securing any information that has not been officially released by the company.

In this lab assignment, you will don the black hat again and perform data gathering and footprinting on an organization of your choice.

To prepare for this Assignment, read the Assignment 1 notes in the Unit 3 Notes, which is located in this week's Learning Resources, before proceeding.

For this Assignment, complete Lab 3 and write a 3 to 4-page report that:

• Describes the organization you are targeting; include a link to its website.

• Summarizes your findings from IANA Whois, Sam Spade Utility, Traceroute, Nslookup, and Google hacking research.

• Includes information on servers and security countermeasures.

• Evaluates your public domain information findings.

• Provides a scenario of how an attacker might use this information to socially engineer the organization.

• Recommends precautionary measures to the organization.