What is the primary function of a war dialer?

The primary function of a war dialer is to dial a range of phone numbers systematically and is particularly designed to identify any modems connected to those numbers. This tool operates by automatically dialing a series of telephone numbers to locate and connect to devices, such as modems, which could be susceptible to unauthorized access or could potentially expose services that can be exploited.

War dialing can be used for various purposes, such as reconnaissance in a penetration test or discovering hidden modems within an organization. Once a modulated connection is established, further actions can be taken to probe for security vulnerabilities.

The other choices, while relevant to different tools or technologies in cybersecurity, do not accurately describe the core function of a war dialer. Collecting data from Wi-Fi networks pertains to network analysis tools, vulnerability scanning of web applications refers to application security tools, and analyzing network traffic patterns is more aligned with network monitoring solutions. Each of these tools serves distinct purposes within the broader realm of security assessments and testing.