Well, just having the important data saved on your computer is reason enough to do everything you can to make sure that your computer network is safe. This is why network vulnerability scanning is performed. The interesting thing about it is that it was mostly used by hackers with the intention to find weak areas and use it to get into the enterprise’s security. However, not it is used from the people on the other side with the goal to prevent these kinds of things.
If you want your network to be fully protected, you need to be aware of all the weak and potentially weak points. Being ready to resolve every issue that might appear is absolute necessity if you want your company to be at the top of its game. Vulnerability scanners can help you identify weaknesses through databases that are constantly updated and they can be software-based agents placed directly on servers or workstations, or as hardware devices. Scanning works with Web applications by launching simulated attacks against those applications and then reports the vulnerabilities it finds with recommendations on how to fix or eliminate them.
There are two types of scans: internal and external. Both should be performed if you want everything to be completely covered. An internal scan often reveals vulnerability, while an external scan identifies weak points along the perimeter. They identify things like unsafe code, updates that should be there but aren’t, misconfigured systems, malware and patches. There are vulnerability scanners that can help you identify weaknesses through databases that are constantly updated. Host-based scanners are generally considered more flexible in the kinds of vulnerabilities they can scan. The network-based scanners are plug-and-play hardware devices that are self-contained and need less maintenance than software agents.
Security devices may limit access for outside parties to scan ports, and the team conducting the scan needs to have access through port forwarding or configuration to pass through. These scans are particularly important for all businesses or organizations using electronic systems to store company or customer information. Always have in mind that in order to resolve any problem, you need to be aware of it.
You should be careful with using Web based applications, since there is a study that shows that most of the websites scanned by the free Web based scanners had serious vulnerabilities and were at immediate risk of being hacked. Even though vulnerability scanners can help greatly they should be something to depend on completely, but do the Penetration Test as well. It is often conducted after the vulnerability scan. A penetration test attempts to exploit one or more of the vulnerabilities identified during the vulnerability scan. These test attempts verify if an identified vulnerability is actually susceptible to being exploited. Vulnerability audits are necessary for all businesses or organizations using electronic systems to store company or customer information. In many cases, industry best practices require such businesses and organizations to conduct vulnerability scans regularly to remain compliant.
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