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Scofield Idehen
Scofield Idehen

Posted on • Originally published at blog.learnhubafrica.org

Simple Hacking Technique for Beginners (2025 Edition)

#security #webdev #programming #cybersecurity

Every year, cybersecurity becomes more complex, but the path for beginners remains the same: start simple, understand fundamentals, and practice safely.

Many new hackers jump into advanced exploits, like zero‑days, malware development, or social engineering, without building the foundation. The truth is this:

If you understand the basics extremely well, everything else becomes 10× easier.

This article introduces one simple beginner hacking technique that still works in 2025, explains how it works, and gives step‑by‑step examples with modern tools. The goal: help you understand your first real ethical hacking workflow.

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Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the systematic process of gathering data about a target to determine the best vector for penetration. It allows an ethical hacker to map digital terrain before taking any direct action.

Reconnaissance can be divided into two broad categories: passive reconnaissance and active reconnaissance.

Passive Reconnaissance
This involves gathering information without sending traffic to the target system. It is indirect, quiet, and highly effective. Common sources include certificate transparency logs, WHOIS databases, archived web content, and public DNS records. Because the target system is never touched, passive recon is nearly impossible to detect.

Active Reconnaissance
Active reconnaissance involves interacting directly with the target, scanning ports, probing services, enumerating technologies, and discovering internal structures. It is more invasive and can be detected by security tools.

However, it provides deeper, more actionable results.

A beginner must understand both forms. Passive recon teaches the structure of the internet; active recon reveals the behaviour of the systems operating on it.

Only use active recon when you are sure of the target or when you are authorised.

Modern Recon Tools for 2025

The current ecosystem of reconnaissance tools is more mature than ever, especially in Linux environments. The following tools represent the industry’s preferred options for ethical hacking in 2025:

Passive Recon Tools

ProjectDiscovery produces a suite of open source tools tailored for offensive security: security engineers, bug bounty hunters, and red teamers.

Our toolkit is structured around three distinct layers to optimise your security assessment and penetration testing processes. We also provide utilities and libraries as building blocks for an offensive security or bug bounty hunting program.

A few of our most popular projects include:

- [nuclei](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei): A fast and customizable vulnerability scanner based on simple YAML based DSL.
- [nuclei-templates](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates): Community curated list of templates for the nuclei engine to find security vulnerabilities.
- [subfinder](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/subfinder): A fast passive subdomain enumeration tool leveraging dozens of APIs.
- [httpx](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/httpx): A fast and multi-purpose HTTP toolkit that allows running multiple probes using the retryablehttp library.
- [cvemap](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/cvemap): A CLI to Navigate the CVE jungle with ease.
- [katana](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/katana): A next-generation crawling and spidering framework.
- [naabu](https://github.com/projectdiscovery/naabu): A fast port scanner written in go with a focus on reliability and simplicity.
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Active Recon Tools

These utilities form the foundation of modern offensive security workflows. Their ease of use and automation capabilities make them ideal for beginners.

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Building a Simple Recon Workflow

To illustrate how reconnaissance works, we will use a safe, publicly designated domain: example.com. The workflow below mirrors what real ethical hackers perform when beginning an assessment.

Step 1: WHOIS Lookup
WHOIS reveals administrative information about a domain. Although some details may be masked through privacy services, the output provides insights into infrastructure ownership and DNS configuration.

Run the following command in your terminal:

whois google.com
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Typical data includes registrar information, creation date, update frequency, and authoritative name servers. While this may seem elementary, it exposes metadata that can help understand the domain’s underlying structure.

Step 2: DNS Enumeration
DNS records reveal how a domain is structured and where its services point. A DNS lookup is an indispensable early step.

dig google.com ANY
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OR:

nslookup -type=any google.com
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DNS records such as A, AAAA, MX, NS, and TXT often reveal external dependencies, cloud providers, email configurations, and potential misconfigurations.

Step 3: Subdomain Discovery

Subdomains frequently host development servers, staging environments, forgotten applications, and outdated infrastructure. They are among the most common sources of vulnerabilities in modern systems.

Use Subfinder for passive subdomain enumeration:

If you are not using Linux, you can get it by running this - go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/subfinder/v2/cmd/subfinder@latest

subfinder -d google.com -o subs.txt
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A typical output might include:

blog .com
mail.example.com
staging.example.com
dev.example.com
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Each subdomain represents a new potential attack surface.

Step 4: Identify Active Hosts

After discovering subdomains, the next task is determining which ones are reachable.

httpx -l subs.txt -o alive.txt
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This tool sends lightweight requests and returns only active, responsive systems. These become the targets for deeper analysis.

Step 5: Port and Service Scanning
Port scanning marks the beginning of active reconnaissance. It identifies which network services are exposed and which versions they are running.

nmap -sV -O dev.example.com
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The -sV flag detects service versions, while -O attempts OS fingerprinting. Service banners can reveal outdated software or insecure configurations, both highly valuable to an ethical hacker.

Step 6: Directory and File Enumeration
Directories and files hidden from public navigation may contain sensitive content such as backups, development notes, administrative panels, or unprotected APIs.

feroxbuster -u https://dev.example.com -w /usr/share/wordlists/dirb/common.txt
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Examples of discovered paths include:

/admin  
/uploads  
/backup.zip
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This phase simulates how attackers often uncover neglected or misconfigured endpoints.

Automating Reconnaissance with Python

Automation is a crucial skill for modern attackers and defenders. Even beginners should understand basic scripting to streamline repetitive tasks. Below is a simplified Python script that automates part of the recon process.

import subprocess

domain = "google.com"

print("[+] Running Subfinder...")
subprocess.run(["subfinder", "-d", domain, "-o", "subs.txt"])

print("[+] Probing active hosts...")
subprocess.run(["httpx", "-l", "subs.txt", "-o", "alive.txt"])

print("[+] Running Nmap scans on live hosts...")
with open("alive.txt") as f:
    for line in f:
        host = line.strip()
        subprocess.run(["nmap", "-sV", "-O", host])
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This script integrates passive and active recon steps, providing a starting point for more advanced automation.

Why Reconnaissance Matters

Reconnaissance provides clarity in environments that are otherwise opaque. It reveals the visible and hidden landscape of a target. For beginners, it establishes critical habits: observation, pattern recognition, and the ability to understand systems before attempting to exploit them.

Reconnaissance also reflects the intellectual discipline behind ethical hacking. It demands precision, patience, and structured thinking. Without recon, hacking becomes guesswork. With recon, every decision is informed.

Safe Practice Environments

Beginners should never perform reconnaissance on systems they do not own or have authorisation to test. Several platforms exist specifically for safe, controlled learning:

These environments simulate real‑world systems and provide progressive learning challenges.

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                    Best Beginner’s Guide For Cybersecurity Recon with Python
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Conclusion

Reconnaissance is the simplest and most foundational hacking technique for beginners in 2025. It requires minimal technical skill to begin, yet it lays the groundwork for every advanced technique in cybersecurity.

By understanding how information flows, how systems expose themselves, and where weaknesses reside, new learners build the intellectual framework necessary for deeper exploration.

For anyone beginning ethical hacking today, recon is not merely the first step; it is the discipline that shapes all others.

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