You’re Missing Bugs If You’re Not Reconning Like This 🔍

Welcome back, legends. 🧠

If you read yesterday’s post, you already know that picking the right targets is half the battle. But even the best targets are useless without proper recon. Most hackers think recon is just about running Subfinder and Nuclei. They’re wrong. Completely wrong.

Recon isn’t optional. It’s the reason you’ll get a bug — or burn out.

But here’s what nobody tells you:

Recon is less about tools — and more about timing, psychology, and focus.

If you’re still doing “wide recon” on 50 programs, hitting dead subdomains, or blindly scanning stale assets, you’re already behind.

Today, I’ll show you how real hackers do recon in 2025, with:

• Real scripts
• A focused system
• Automation that spots bugs before others even wake up

Let’s dive in and transform the way you recon forever.

Why Most Hunters Fail at Recon 🧠

They treat it like a checklist:
subfinder → httpx → nuclei → repeat

But think about this:
If everyone is running the same tools in the same order… how will you find something new?

The truth is, most bounty hunters:

• Scan too many targets without context
• Don’t track changes or new exposures
• Miss early-stage bugs by arriving too late

Recon isn’t a tool. It’s a radar. The smarter it is, the earlier you detect bugs.
Don’t just collect tools — create workflows.

Step 1: Know What You’re Looking For 🕵️‍♂️

Before tools, ask:
What kind of bugs are you good at finding?

• APIs? → Look for JSON responses, Swagger files, mobile endpoints.
• Access Control? → Focus on apps with login panels, multiple user roles.
• Logic Bugs? → Go for startups, commerce, fintech.

This shapes your recon like a sniper scope — not a shotgun.

Step 2: Build Your Radar — Passive Recon ⚙️

Passive recon gives you signals without touching the target.

Use These Tools:

1. bounty-targets-data : Monitors all public bounty scopes across HackerOne, Bugcrowd and Intigriti.

for platform in hackerone bugcrowd intigriti; do echo -e "\n\033[1;36m==============================\n[$platform Programs]\n==============================\033[0m"; curl -s "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arkadiyt/bounty-targets-data/master/data/${platform}_data.json" | jq -r '.[].url'; done

• Compare today vs yesterday.
• Script it. Alert yourself.

2. chaos.projectdiscovery.io : Massive subdomain data of bounty programs. Free recon goldmine.

chaos-client -d example.com -key $CHAOS_KEY | httpx -silent

• Finds active subdomains under wildcard scopes.
• Targets dev/staging environments that others skip.

Step 3: Active Recon That Actually Works ⚡

Once you know what’s alive and in scope, go active — but smart.

My Recon Combo (2025-Ready):

subfinder -d target.com -all | anew alive.txt
httpx -l alive.txt -mc 200,403 -t 80 -o live.txt
nuclei -l live.txt -t ~/nuclei-templates/ -o scan.txt

Don’t run this once. Cron it. Watch for changes.
Bugs don’t just exist — they appear when changes happen.

Add These Tools to Your Pipeline 🧰

• gauplus — Old but gold: find hidden parameters.
• waybackurls — Historical recon for juicy files.
• github-subdomains — For dev leaks from public repos.
• katana — Fast, JS-aware crawling engine.

Real Recon Script I Use 🧪

#!/bin/bash

domain=$1
date=$(date +%F)

mkdir -p ~/recon/$domain/$date

subfinder -d $domain -silent | tee ~/recon/$domain/$date/subs.txt
httpx -l ~/recon/$domain/$date/subs.txt -silent | tee ~/recon/$domain/$date/alive.txt
nuclei -l ~/recon/$domain/$date/alive.txt -o ~/recon/$domain/$date/nuclei.txt

This script collects fresh subdomains, filters live ones, and scans them with Nuclei daily.

Set it on daily cron. Let your system watch while you sleep.

Bonus: Watch for These Recon Signals

You’re more likely to find bugs if:

• The company just launched a new product
• Their mobile app just got updated
• Their GitHub repos recently changed
• Their dev subdomain suddenly resolves

Watch the edges — not the homepage.

The Psychology of Great Recon 🧠

Real hackers don’t chase programs.
They build systems that catch bugs while others scroll HackerOne.

Don’t just collect tools — create workflows.
Don’t go wide — go deep.
Don’t wait — automate.

Your Turn 💬

What’s your smartest recon automation or toolchain combo?
- Drop it in the comments — I’ll feature the top ones in tomorrow’s post.
- Follow me to keep leveling up your bug bounty game.

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Clap it up, follow me, and bookmark it for your recon days.
Sharing this with one fellow hacker helps us both grow.

Coming Tomorrow… 🔮

Subdomain Takeovers in 2025

• How DNS misconfigs still exist
• Takeover automation
• Real world takeover stories
• Tools that actually detect them

Stay focused. Stay hungry.

— Đeepanshu 🧢