What tactic is used to gather information about a network by sending transmissions and analyzing responses?

• A. Technical Information Gathering
• B. Active Reconnaissance
• C. Social Engineering
• D. Data Exfiltration

Answer: (A)

The tactic being tested is active reconnaissance: you actively engage the target network by sending probes, packets, or queries and then analyze the responses to discover hosts, services, and configurations. This hands-on approach is what differentiates it from passive information gathering, where you only observe traffic without interacting with the network. By sending transmissions and studying how the network responds, you map out the environment, identify open ports, banner information, and potential weaknesses. Social engineering focuses on people rather than systems, and data exfiltration is about stealing data, not about gathering it through probing. Technical Information Gathering is broader and can include various methods, but the specific act described—sending probes and analyzing replies—fits the active reconnaissance tactic most precisely.