Vulnerability Assessment

What is a Vulnerability Assessment?

A critical aspect of securing a system is performing a vulnerability assessment to identify and prioritize security flaws. This testing process entails employing both automated and manual techniques to uncover as many vulnerabilities as possible within a specified time frame. Comprehensive coverage is emphasized, and the rigor of the techniques employed may vary. A risk-based approach is used to target various layers of technology, such as the host, network, and application layers. The severity of each security defect is assigned according to predefined protocols. By performing vulnerability assessments, one can better protect a system from evolving security threats and gain a greater understanding of potential risks.

Types of Vulnerability Assessments

APPLICATION

assessments determine vulnerabilities within the web applications of your organization.

NETWORK

assessments require a review of your procedures and policies to protect you against unauthorized access.

DATABASE

assessments discover configuration issues, unprotected data, and other vulnerabilities within your infrastructure.

HOST

assessments reveal vulnerabilities of your critical servers that could impact operations and security if not properly tested and protected.

Vulnerability Assessment Process

Vulnerability assessments are typically considered a four-step process that includes the following:

Identification

The first step of the vulnerability assessment process is identifying the potential vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems. This typically involves running a vulnerability scanner, which will produce a list of potential vulnerabilities.

Step 1

Analysis

In this step, the list of provided vulnerabilities will be further analyzed, either manually or automatically. For example, this analysis might determine if a result is a true threat or false positive or look for a root cause of each vulnerability.

Step 2

Prioritization

Most organizations lack the resources to fix (remediate) every vulnerability, and the ROI of doing so may be low for low-risk vulnerabilities. To maximize the benefit and effectiveness of remediation efforts, vulnerabilities should be prioritized based on their likelihood of exploitation and potential impacts on the business.

Step 3

Remediation

After developing a prioritized list, the organization can work on fixing these issues in order. This may involve applying patches or mitigating issues and should include testing to verify that a fix worked.

Step 4