Reconnaissance

Contents

Reconnaissance is the gathering of information about the target of an action. It precedes action planning. It can be done either physically (e.g., by traveling to the action site to inspect it) or digitally (e.g., by researching the target on the web). You should take into account the techniques an adversary may use against you during reconnaissance as much as you take them into account during the action itself.

Physical reconnaissance

Examples of physical reconnaissance include:

When conducting physical reconnaissance, you can:

Digital reconnaissance

Examples of digital reconnaissance include:

When conducting digital reconnaissance, you should follow digital best practices.

Techniques addressed by this mitigation

NameDescription
Alarm systems

Before an action, you can survey the target building or infrastructure to determine the presence of an alarm system, and the type and location of sensors or other alarm devices.

Guards

Before an action, you can identify the presence of guards at the action site.

Mass surveillance
Video surveillance

Before an action, you can identify the location of surveillance cameras at an action site and make plans to avoid them if possible.

Police patrols

Before an action, you can identify the nearest police station, their shift change schedule, and patrol patterns, and you can identify routes that are not visible to police patrols and that would make pursuit difficult (forests, railroad tracks, etc.)