A penetration tester must gain entry to a client's office building without raising attention. Which of the following should be the tester's first step?

The correct answer is D. Conducting surveillance of the office to understand foot traffic. The appropriate first step for a low-profile physical access attempt is conducting surveillance to gather information such as entry points, peak/low occupancy times, security guard patterns, camera placement, and typical foot traffic. Surveillance (visual observation, external…

Submitted by amina.ke· Mar 6, 2026Reconnaissance and enumeration

Question

Options

AInteracting with security employees to clone a badge
BTrying to enter the back door after hours on a weekend
CCollecting building blueprints to run a site survey
DConducting surveillance of the office to understand foot traffic

How the community answered

(54 responses)

A
13% (7)
B
6% (3)
C
4% (2)
D
78% (42)

Explanation

The appropriate first step for a low-profile physical access attempt is conducting surveillance to gather information such as entry points, peak/low occupancy times, security guard patterns, camera placement, and typical foot traffic. Surveillance (visual observation, external photography, publicly available schedules) informs a safe, low-risk entry plan and helps the tester choose tactics that minimize attention.

Topics

#Physical penetration testing#Reconnaissance#Social engineering#Foot traffic analysis

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