Before we dive into this toolkit, let me tell you a story about the time I kicked off a pentest without proper recon.
I was attempting a black box test against an e-commerce site to compromise their cloud environment.
Two weeks in, I had nothing but dead ends to show for my efforts. Without knowing the tech stack or infrastructure, I was poking in the dark.
It was time to go back to basics…
Equipped with my trusty recon tools, I uncovered an obscure subdomain relied upon by internal users. There was my initial foothold!
But I‘m getting ahead of myself.
The key lesson was I depended too much on automated scanners instead of the tried and true human-driven recon techniques.
And the tools you‘ll discover here support exactly that kind of manual testing and analysis.
See, there’s no substitute for having an expansive mental map of your target environment. That’s what separates the hackers from the pen testers.
But even elite infiltrators still rely on tools to expose information quickly and automate tedious tasks.
That’s why having go-to recon and exploitation tools with extensive capabilities can make the difference between a successful or failed test.
And after countless pentests, I’ve rounded up the 13 online tools I trust time and again to unmask weaknesses and arm me for stealthy attacks.
I couldn’t imagine kicking off a test without having these tools on standby…
Now before we get hacking, grab yourself a refreshing beverage. Because we’re about to plunge deep into this shadowy world together!
Illuminating Your Target Technology
The foundation for impactful reconnaissance is unveiling the technologies powering your target‘s environments.
Rather than working blindly, smart pentesters use profiling tools to expose information like:
✅ Frameworks underpinning sites & apps
✅ Libraries and dependencies
✅ Integrations & services
✅ Hosting providers & infrastructure
Knowing the tech stack early allows custom tailoring later exploitation based on probable vulnerabilities.
Here are my go-to tech inspection tools giving invaluable infrastructure insights…
BuiltWith
Over 5 million sites rely on BuiltWith for technology profiling, making their API data indispensible for initial recon stages.
Out of all available services, BuiltWith provides the most accurate real-time tech detection by actively rendering pages rather than relying on banners.
I lean heavily on their Live API when I need to instantly identify tech stacks during time-sensitive pentests.
For example, sending a request for marketingscoop.com returns these details:
As you can see, BuiltWith detected crucial intel like:
CDN: Cloudflare
Protector: TrueShieldWebApplicationFirewall
Backend: PHP/Laravel
JS Libraries: jQuery
This level of granular insight empowers me to select optimal exploits rather than wasting time with mismatched payloads.
But what sets BuiltWith apart is how they maintain current accuracy through constant crawling, unlike some tools only referencing outdated banner data.
Wappalyzer
Wappalyzer takes a blended approach of leveraging banners, scripts, meta tags, and patterns to deduce technology usage.
As one of the first tech profilers on the scene, they’ve had years to expand detection across 1,300+ applications and frameworks.
While I rely on BuiltWith for real-time accuracy, Wappalyzer wins for breadth of overall detections. So they complement together nicely.
For pentesters, having Wappalyzer detection capabilities available passively while browsing is essential during early recon…
That’s why their browser extensions should absolutely be a permanent fixture in your toolkit:
Between BuiltWith and Wappalyzer, you have full spectrum visibility across current and legacy technology. And that intelligence informs all subsequent testing.
Now let‘s start widening the scope beyond main domains to surface more attack surface…
Expanding Your Recon Surface
The difference between an amateur pentester and pro is whether they can identify adjacent systems and environments beyond the obvious initial scoping.
Expanding sideways allows more points of entry while forcing defenders to cover more ground as well.
Two key methods for broadening surface recon are:
⛓️ Discovering associated subdomains
📧 Harvesting email addresses
From footholds in sister systems to phishing users for social engineering attacks – this recon sets the foundation.
Here are my top tools for expanding targeting horizons:
dnsdumpster
My preferred starting point for subdomain discovery is dnsdumpster thanks to some key advantages:
🔎 Integrates subdomain data from major engines like Shodan and Maxmind for aggregated results
📈 Unlimited searches without capped API requests makes this scalable
📤 Exporting results in CSV format ready for additional analysis
The free community edition meets the demands of most solo pentesters. But I suggest investing in their Domain Pro version ($99/mo) since it includes handy features like:
🕵️♂️ Host and port detection
📡 DNS report analysis
📌 Deep discovery via search engine scraping
emailcrawlr
For harvesting employee emails pre-phishing, EmailCrawlr satisfies my needs with flexible API integration.
The biggest advantage over similar tools is how EmailCrawlr pulls data from 20+ information sources compared to the usual handful.
So rather than just guessing common mailbox conventions, EmailCrawlr compiles from:
- Public profiles
- Document metadata
- Website source
- and more!
The API returns JSON formatted results, ready for scripting.
But for manual analysis, their web interface visualizations help spot patterns instantly:
Between subdomains and emails, our target scope already expands significantly! Now let‘s uncover deeper internal assets…
Exposing Hidden Assets
The previous reconnaissance techniques focused outside-in inspection from public domains.
But often the most valuable discoveries come from inside-out reconnaissance across internally facing systems.
Identifying hidden directories, misconfigurations, and under-protected applications dramatically increases risk exposure.
So beyond external signals, we need to directly poke and prod defenses to catch oversights.
My top choice for cutting through obscurity is:
Pentest-Tools URL Fuzzer
While many vulnerable app scanners exist, URL Fuzzer stays dedicated to a singular purpose – brute forcing paths.
I prefer their focused approach alongside hand-selected wordlists encompassing over 1000 permutations of common files and folders.
Rather than blindly firing garbage requests, URL Fuzzer takes a prescriptive approach by:
🔍 Checking predictable locations first
🔍 Iterating based on responses to infer patterns
🔍 Prioritizing known names like /admin over random
This exposes low hanging fruits other scanners may bypass in pursue of flashy vulnerabilities.
The online interface makes setup simple:
And beyond hidden paths, server response codes also reveal potential flags for where defense may fall short:
Now the next level of recon requires a special search engine exclusively for Internet-connected devices…
Enlisting Search Engine Support
At this phase, we‘ve extensively mapped domains, assets, emails, users, and applications related to the target organization.
But the modern web is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to attack surfaces and data access.
The rapid growth of IP-enabled ‘smart‘ devices and critical infrastructure means infosec can no longer remain exclusively website-centric.
We also need to inspect connected:
☁️ Cloud platforms
🖨 Printers
🛠 Manufacturing systems
🏢 Building control networks
🛒 Retail technology
But discovering and analyzing this technological sprawl demands special search capabilities.
Shodan
That‘s why I always keep Shodan armed and ready for recon during pentests.
See, Shodan functions like a traditional search engine but for Internet-connected devices instead of webpages.
This indeces the entire IPv4 space across desktops, servers, cloud instances, embedded systems, network devices, and industrial equipment.
Shodan crawls constantly, uncovering unprotected assets neighborhood by neighborhood.
We can tap into this database using the search engine capabilities to filter by:
🌐 Location
🛠 Operating system
🪟 Open ports
🧮 Banner data
📡 Services
This amplifies the power of search for infosec analysis – no need to only guess based on second hand intelligence.
For example, Shodan makes it easy to isolate outdated systems:
The downside is this also simplifies discovery for attackers – ignorance is bliss no more!
Now that we‘ve shone light across assets, emails, apps, domains, devices and more…let‘s get to the fun part – unearthing specific exploits!
Selecting Your Weapons
The final phase of reconnaissance involves matching discovered vulnerabilities against viable exploit code for proving concepts.
This demands keeping your finger on the pulse of infosec exploit releases while stockpiling any potentially relevant for later usage.
Rather than starting from scratch, I rely heavily on public exploit databases that responsibly aggregate both new and old for research purposes.
Let’s uncover my top trusted public exploit sources…
Packet Storm
Packet Storm stands as the industry‘s original exploit archive, with public contributions dating back decades.
Beyond the enormous back catalogue value, Packet Storm‘s infrastructure reliably keeps fresh exploits visible immediately upon release.
I constantly monitor their Uploads section to discover new additions like this WordPress plugin exploit:
The sheer historical reach of their archive means odds are always decent they have something applicable.
And the open community participation ensures new exploits get published first here before anywhere else in many cases.
Exploit DB
While PacketStorm maintains the widest range, Exploit-DB brings a highly curated collection chosen for quality and reliability.
I appreciate how Exploit-DB avoids quantity over quality by rejecting unreliable submissions. This saves tons of wasted testing time.
Their focused vulnerability descriptions provide the high level context needed to match environments based on details like:
Between PacketStorm and Exploit-DB, I have the bases covered both for breadth and depth of exploit availability fresh daily.
Now comes the fun part of reviewing results, analyzing intersections between tools, and determining optimal vectors based on real vulnerabilities!
Launching Your Recon-Fueled Attacks!
We covered extensive ground inspecting domains, ports, databaes, sites, emails, devices and exposures surrounding our target organization.
Hopefully by now an intricate mental map filled with potential footholds exists, begging for exploitation!
Our surgical strikes stand a strong chance crippling defenses and achieving objectives thanks to such thorough diligence during reconnaissance.
But never forget testing for low hanging fruits first before attempting sophistication exploits requiring perfect conditions.
I often uncover early wins simply via default vendor credentials on a forgotten subdomain!
At this point your engines should be revving, prepped for infiltration while defenders scramble to keep pace covering the increased areas we‘ve exposed.
Now click that execute button and unleash hell! ☠️
Just be smart coordinating timing to avoid early detections. This phase strains even robust SOC teams, so make it count!
Here at the precipice of exploiting organizations at their most vulnerable point – we should pause briefly to remember…
With great power comes great responsibility.
A Word of Caution ⚠️
We walk an invisible line every day as pentesters and hackers between helping and harming when infiltrating without permission.
Most countries now prosecute unauthorized access, system impairment, and data theft or encryption just as harshly as traditional breaking and entering of homes or vehicles.
So no matter your opinions on the ethics or legality – tread carefully.
Always ensure you only ever test environments explicitly contracted or obtain written permission first. No exceptions.
Many aspiring cyber talent land themselves in legal trouble assuming absolute freedom fiddling without agreements.
And even with signed documents allowing your intrusion access, take care not to overstep bounds and damage beyond protections, exploit customers, or otherwise abuse authority.
Now back to business! Where were we?
Oh yes – prepared to pillage through their perimeter, past the SOC, and into the inner chambers undetected! Mwuahaha! 😈
Now It‘s Your Turn!
Today we went on quite a ride exploring my favorite 13 online pentest tools for enabling devastating yet responsible reconnaissance.
This guide only covered free resources aimed at solo pentesters and hackers. But entire commercial suites exist as well I couldn‘t fit here.
My goal was equipping you with an elite infosec toolkit ready for tackling real world targets.
Now over to you – which tools seem most valuable for your style and objectives?
Leave a comment below sharing your immediate takeaways, lingering questions, or personal recommendations!
