A vulnerability assessment is a structural vulnerability analysis of the performance of an organisation’s IT (information technology) infrastructure, potential security vulnerabilities, and cyber threats.
It is a risk assessment process that examines all components of your network and how your Administrators use them to determine your level of security.
Be it a documentation-based review of the design of a system, automated scanning done with software tools, or an in-depth, hands-on assessment, in each case, the goal is to identify as many vulnerabilities as possible.
Vulnerability assessment services are in demand in Australia owing to the increase in Cyber Security attacks.
Types of Vulnerability Assessments
There are various kinds of vulnerability assessments, some of which are as follows:
1) Host assessment
The evaluation of critical servers that may be vulnerable to attacks if they are not adequately tested.
2) Network and wireless assessment
Assessment of network and wireless policies and practices to prevent unauthorised access to private or public networks and network-accessible resources.
3) Database assessment
The examination of databases or big data systems for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, the detection of rogue databases or insecure development/test environments, and the classification of sensitive data across an organisation’s infrastructure.
4) Application scans
The detection of security flaws in web or In house applications and their source code through automated front-end scans or static/dynamic source code analysis.
Examples of Vulnerability Assessment
Some examples of threats that vulnerability assessment can prevent are as given below:
- XSS, SQL injection, and other code injection attacks.
- Provides a list of critical vulnerabilities in servers.
- Provides a list of open ports to work through the closing of unwanted ports
- Provide a list of unpatched servers
- Host scans and perform inventory reconciliation.
Security Scanning Process of Vulnerability Assessment
The Security Scanning process of vulnerability assessment includes the following stages:
1. Vulnerability Identification (testing)
This step’s goal is to create a comprehensive list of an application’s vulnerabilities. Security analysts assess the security of applications, servers, and other systems by scanning them with automated tools or manually testing and evaluating them. To identify security flaws in a system, applications, website or Web page, analysts also rely on vulnerability databases, vendor vulnerability announcements, asset management systems, and threat intelligence feeds.
2. Vulnerability assessment
The purpose of this stage is to determine the source and root cause of the vulnerabilities discovered in phase one.
It involves defining the system components responsible for each vulnerability as well as the root cause of the vulnerability. A vulnerability, for example, could be caused by an outdated version of an open-source library. This lays out a clear course of action for correction: upgrade the library.
3. Risk evaluation
The purpose of this phase is to prioritise vulnerabilities. Security analysts assign a rank or severity score to each vulnerability based on factors such as:
- The systems impacted
- The information at risk
- The business functions that are jeopardised
- Attack or compromise ease.
- The intensity of an attack.
- The damage caused by the vulnerability
4. Remediation
The goal of this step is to close security gaps. Security, development, and operations teams typically collaborate to determine the most effective path for remediation or mitigation of each vulnerability.
Specific remedial action may include:
- New security procedures, measures, or tools implemented.
- The procedure of updating operational or configuration changes.
- The formation and implementation of a vulnerability patch or computing.
5. Mitigation
Since not every vulnerability can be remedied, mitigation is necessary. Mitigation aims to reduce the likelihood of a vulnerability being exploited or the impact of a malicious code that can mar computer security.
Specific mitigation steps will vary depending on your risk tolerance and budget, but they frequently include the following:
- Adding new security controls
- Hardware or software replacement
- Encryption
- Risk management for vendors
- Attack surface management
- Constant security surveillance
Vulnerability assessment cannot be a one-time activity. To be effective, organisations must operationalize and repeat this process on a regular basis. It is also critical to promote collaboration among security, operations, and development teams, a practice known as DevSecOps.
Devsecops is the practice of introducing security earlier in the application development life cycle, thereby minimising vulnerabilities and bringing security closer to IT and business objectives.
Why should an organisation conduct a Vulnerability assessment?
Any organisation must conduct a vulnerability assessment in order to:
• Be aware of any potential security threats.
• Organize resources so that the most critical vulnerabilities are addressed first.
• Create a comprehensive plan to address all vulnerabilities identified.
As part of their overall security strategy, organisations should consider conducting regular vulnerability assessments and maintaining reports of the result received.
What are the vulnerability assessment tools?
Vulnerability assessment tools are intended to automatically scan for new and existing threats to your application and servers. The following are examples of tools:
- Scanners for web applications that detect and simulate known attack patterns.
- Protocol scanners look for insecure protocols, ports, and network services.
- Network scanners aid in the visualisation of networks and the detection of warning signs such as stray IP addresses, spoofed packets, and suspicious packet generation from a single IP address.
What Is the cost incurred on a Vulnerability Scan?
The cost of an IT vulnerability assessment is determined by the network’s size and the length of the scan. While smaller business systems can be scanned in 2-3 days, medium and enterprise organisations can take a week or more to assess, raising the service price.
For more information and to schedule a Vulnerability assessment with Anitech, you call 1300 802 163 or email info@anitechgroup.com or enquire here.
We will be happy to help you!
