Before starting any penetration test or ethical hacking operation, the first step he is going to do is define the scope and objective.
He needed to clearly identify what he was testing, whether it was a web application, network, mobile app, or API.
It was also critical to understand what was off-limits, in order to avoid legal or ethical violations.
So the first step was to identify his target, and this is what he found.
These were some of the largest platforms in his world, each one operated by a major company or corporate entity.
YouTube this remains a global powerhouse in video content, reaching over 2.3 billion unique monthly users. Though its official market valuation is undisclosed, analysts estimate it contributes over $500 billion to Alphabet's global ecosystem.
Then there was SocialHub, the platform he had already planned to target. It was the world's dominant social network, effectively replacing what Facebook once was on this alternate Earth.
