You see the career section of a company's Web site and analyze the job profile requirements. You conclude that the company wants professionals who have a sharp knowledge of Windows server 2003 and Win

Covering tracks is the final phase of an attack, involving the deletion of logs and removal of evidence after a system has already been compromised, which has no relation to passively reading a website.

Scanning involves actively probing a target's network with tools to discover open ports, running services, and OS versions, which requires direct interaction with the target's infrastructure.

Gaining access involves exploiting discovered vulnerabilities to compromise a system and occurs after reconnaissance and scanning have already been completed.

Reconnaissance is the first phase of the ethical hacking lifecycle in which an attacker collects publicly available information about a target without directly interacting with its systems - reading a company's job listings to infer its server technologies (Windows Server 2003, Active Directory) is a textbook example of passive reconnaissance that requires no system access or active probing.