Vulnerability assessment is essential for IT security
In this day and age more and more of our crucial business information is to be found stored on computers and on online networks. It is imperative that this valuable information is stored securely and this is where vulnerability management and consultancy services are increasingly coming into their own. These firms will conduct far-reaching penetration testing of your IT security systems and provide you with a vulnerability assessment. Can you be confident that your network is safe and secure? Why not take a free trial with one of these firms and find out?
The organisations that carry out these scans and tests on your network are experienced and professional and generally have an excellent knowledge base extending over thirty thousand potential vulnerabilities. Vulnerability information is gathered and scrutinised from many highly respected industry sources, such as the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list (www.cve.mitre.org) and the NIST National Vulnerability Database (http://nvd.nist.gov). The NIST database is an excellent source because it gives exhaustive information on known vulnerabilities. Other sources often used include the SANS top 20 (http://www.sans.org/top20), CERT Vulnerability Notes (http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/), and the Open Source Vulnerability Database (http://www.osvdb.org).
Management of vulnerabilities in your system commences with automatic detection of devices and software present in the network. Once this first stage has taken place, your assets are assigned a business impact value so that those vulnerabilities which affect your business’ most valuable assets can be prioritised. These are then assessed through scheduled scans, after which the results will be reviewed and analysed. This analysis will highlight areas of vulnerability (or areas of ‘low-hanging fruit’ as they are commonly known) so that remediation activity can. Once the remediation process has been concluded, further scans are undertaken to ensure that the vulnerability has been successfully dealt with.
Different types of scan can be scheduled depending on the requirements of your business. External scans of the perimeter of your network can be scheduled on demand or at certain intervals. Alongside these, internal scanning of corporate networks can also be installed very straightforwardly. Pay as you go scanning offers an outstanding cost effective answer to the difficulty of achieving compliance to PCI requirement 11.2.
Vulnerability management systems can be installed very simply and all penetration testing and vulnerability assessment can be scheduled as and when you desire it. The advantages of having a secure network are immeasurable for all sorts of organisations. It is important to protect your network in order to protect your business assets.
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