: a preliminary survey to gain information especially : an exploratory military survey of enemy territory.

What is an example of reconnaissance?

Some common examples of reconnaissance attacks include packet sniffing, ping sweeping, port scanning, phishing, social engineering and internet information queries. We can examine these further by breaking them into the two categories of logical and physical.

Why do we do reconnaissance?

The reconnaissance survey is an extensive study of an entire area that might be used for a road or airfield. Its purpose is to eliminate those routes or sites which are impractical or unfeasible and to identify the more promising routes or sites. Existing maps and aerial photographs may be of great help.