Which practice is used to identify exposed ports by actively sending requests?

Which practice is used to identify exposed ports by actively sending requests?

• A. Active scanning
• B. Passive sniffing
• C. Social engineering
• D. Credential stuffing

Answer: (A)

Active scanning is the practice of sending packets to a target to discover which ports are open and what services are listening. By probing ports with requests, you create a live map of the network surface, revealing exposed ports, running services, and potentially misconfigurations. This direct probing is what lets you identify what an attacker could reach. Passive sniffing, in contrast, only listens to traffic that’s already on the network and cannot reliably reveal which ports are exposed since it doesn’t cause any responses from the target. Social engineering focuses on manipulating people to gain access or information, not on discovering network ports. Credential stuffing targets authentication weaknesses, not port discovery.

Active scanning is the practice of sending packets to a target to discover which ports are open and what services are listening. By probing ports with requests, you create a live map of the network surface, revealing exposed ports, running services, and potentially misconfigurations. This direct probing is what lets you identify what an attacker could reach.

Passive sniffing, in contrast, only listens to traffic that’s already on the network and cannot reliably reveal which ports are exposed since it doesn’t cause any responses from the target. Social engineering focuses on manipulating people to gain access or information, not on discovering network ports. Credential stuffing targets authentication weaknesses, not port discovery.