What term describes a procedure used for identifying active hosts, open ports, and unnecessary services enabled on particular hosts?

• A. Reconnaissance
• B. Scanning
• C. Information Assurance (AI)
• D. Clearing Tracks

Answer: (B)

Scanning is the process of actively probing a network to determine which hosts are up, which ports are open, and which services are running on those hosts. This step maps the attack surface by revealing live devices and the services exposed, helping to identify potential entry points for exploits. It’s more specific than general information gathering, which may not involve actively checking which hosts or ports are reachable. Clearing tracks is about evading detection, and Information Assurance focuses on protecting systems, not discovering them. So the term that describes this procedure is scanning.