**Note: The content in this article is only for educational purposes and understanding of cybersecurity concepts. It should enable people and organizations to have a better grip on threats and know how to protect themselves against them. Please use this information responsibly.**
Website and DNS Reconnaissance Using Netcraft
Netcraft is a passive reconnaissance tool that helps us discover information about the systems and services a website is running on.
This tool can identify malicious websites, fraudulent domains, social media profiles, emails etc. These tasks can be automated too, through Netcraft.
Netcraft helps combat online threats. It handles a considerable portion of worldwide phishing incident resolutions.
They have an advanced system for identifying potential threats. Each day, this technology scrutinizes vast numbers of suspicious web addresses, rapidly pinpointing genuine risks. In the fast-paced realm of cybersecurity, such swift analysis is crucial for effective threat mitigation.
Collaboration plays a vital role in the company’s approach. By disseminating threat data to partners, they amplify their protective reach. When new threats are catalogued, this information quickly spreads through their network, helping to shield a substantial portion of internet users from harm.
Steps to perform website reconnaissance using Netcraft: –
Domains and sub-domains are part of critical network infrastructure for any organization. A company’s top-level domains and sub-domains can provide useful information such as organizational history, services and products and contact information.
1. Launch any browser.
2. In the address bar type https://www.netcraft.com
3. The Netcraft home page appears as shown below:
4. Click on Resources -> Research Tools
5. Click on Visit Site Report
6. The “What’s that site running?” page will appear. Here first you can accept the cookies.
7. To extract information associated with the organizational website such as infrastructure, technology used, sub-domains, background, network etc., type the target website URL in the input text field. In our case, we will type the target organization URL. Click on “Look Up”
8. This loads the Site Report for the target organization. It displays information on: –
- Basic background about the site
- Network
- IP Delegation
- SSL/TLS details
- Sender policy framework
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformation)
- Certificate Transparency, Signed Certificate Timestamps
- Web trackers
- Site technologies used
To perform DNS Reconnaissance: –
In the Network section click on the site link in the domain field to view the subdomains, the netblock and operating system information.
This can also be done by selecting the “Search DNS” option in Research Tools.
Attackers can use this collected list of subdomains to perform web application attacks on the target organization such as injections, brute force and DOS attacks.
As online dangers continue to evolve, this multifaceted approach taken by Netcraft remains essential. By combining extensive operations, advanced threat detection, and strategic partnerships Netcraft continues to play a crucial role in protecting our digital landscape from the ever-present threat of cybercrime.
