Which term refers to the process of scanning an IP range to detect live hosts?

The term that refers to the process of scanning an IP range to detect live hosts is ping sweeping. This technique involves sending ICMP echo requests (commonly known as "ping" requests) to multiple IP addresses within a specified range to determine which addresses respond and are, therefore, active or "live." This method is often used in network reconnaissance to gather information about which devices are currently connected to a network.

When conducting a ping sweep, the primary goal is to identify active systems that can then be targeted for further investigation or scanning, such as port scanning. This step is crucial in understanding a network's topology and the devices that are present.

The other options do not relate directly to this process: DNS footprinting involves gathering information about domain names and their corresponding IP addresses; port scanning is aimed at identifying open ports on a single or multiple hosts; social engineering is a technique used to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential information, which is quite different from scanning networks for live hosts. Each of these terms plays a role in cybersecurity and incident handling, but ping sweeping specifically focuses on discovering live IP addresses in a network range.