A vulnerability assessment process designed to identify threats and the risks they pose involves the use of automated testing tools, such as network security scanners, the results of which are often included in a vulnerability assessment report.

Organizations of any size, or even those at increased risk of cyberattacks, can benefit from some type of vulnerability assessment, but large enterprises and other types of organizations that are under constant attack will benefit most from a vulnerability assessment.

Because vulnerabilities can allow hackers to access IT systems and applications, it is important to identify and address them before they exploit enterprise vulnerabilities. A comprehensive vulnerability assessment and management program can help organizations improve the security of their systems.

The importance of vulnerability assessments

A vulnerability assessment provides an organization with information about its security vulnerabilities and guides it through assessing the risks associated with those vulnerabilities and emerging threats. This process allows the organization to better understand its assets, vulnerabilities, and overall risk, thereby reducing the likelihood of cybercriminals penetrating its systems.

Types of Vulnerability Assessments

Vulnerability assessments are based on the discovery of various types of system or network vulnerabilities. In this process, various tools, scanners, and methods are used to identify vulnerabilities, threats, and risks.

Some of the vulnerability assessment scans are:

Network-based scans are used to detect potential network security attacks. These types of scans can also detect vulnerable systems on wired or wireless networks.

– Host-based scans are used to find and identify vulnerabilities in servers, workstations, or other network hosts. These types of scans typically examine ports and services that are also seen in network-based scans, but they provide better insight into the configuration settings and patch history of the scanned systems.

– Scans of an organisation’s wireless networks Wi-Fi often focus on attack points in the wireless network infrastructure. In addition to identifying spoofed access points, wireless network scanning can verify that an organisation’s network is securely configured.

– Application scans can be used to test websites to identify known software vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in network or web applications.

– Database scans can be used to identify vulnerabilities in a database to prevent malicious attacks such as SQL injection attacks.

– Vulnerability Analysis and Penetration Testing

A vulnerability assessment usually includes penetration testing to identify weaknesses in an organisation’s people, procedures, or processes that cannot be detected by network or system scans. This process is sometimes referred to as vulnerability assessment/penetration testing.

Tecron is here to assist you in this process with our expert staff and strong business partners.