Mahmoud is conducting a penetration test of a client's network. He is currently gathering information from sources such as archive.org, netcraft.com, social media, and information websites. What BEST describes this stage?

Passive reconnaissance is any reconnaissance done without actually connecting to the target. In this case, Mahmoud is conducting a form of OSINT, or open-source intelligence, by using commonly available third-party information sources to gather information about his target. Active reconnaissance involves communicating with the target network, such as doing a port scan. The initial exploitation is not information gathering; it is actually breaking into the target network. A pivot is when you have breached one system and use that to move to another system.