200-201 Security Concepts Practice Question
A security analyst discovers that an attacker used a publicly available tool to scan a company's network for open ports and services. What type of attack is this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between active and passive reconnaissance by presenting a scenario where a tool is used to 'scan' or 'probe' the network, and candidates mistakenly choose passive reconnaissance because they think 'scanning' is non-intrusive, but any direct interaction with the target (sending packets) is active.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Active reconnaissance
Using a publicly available tool to scan a company's network for open ports and services involves directly interacting with the target systems by sending probes (e.g., TCP SYN packets, UDP datagrams) and analyzing responses. This constitutes active reconnaissance, as the attacker's actions generate traffic that can be detected by intrusion detection systems (IDS) or firewall logs, unlike passive methods that only observe existing traffic.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Passive reconnaissance
Why it's wrong here
Passive reconnaissance does not involve direct interaction; it uses publicly available information.
- ✗
Denial of Service
Why it's wrong here
DoS aims to disrupt service, not gather information.
- ✗
Social engineering
Why it's wrong here
Social engineering manipulates people, not network scanning.
- ✓
Active reconnaissance
Why this is correct
Port scanning is active because it sends probes to the target.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-201 exam.