Becoming the Hacker

Chapter 2. Efficient Discovery

Content discovery and information gathering are typically the first steps when attacking an application. The goal is to figure out as much as possible about the application in the quickest manner possible. Time is a luxury we don't have and we must make the most of our limited resources.

Efficiency can also help us to remain a bit quieter when attacking applications. Smart wordlists will reduce the number of requests we make to the server and return results faster. This isn't a silver bullet, but it's a good place to start.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• The different types of penetration testing engagements
• Target mapping with various network and web scanners
• Efficient brute-forcing techniques