Vulnerability
Assessment
Vulnerability
Assessment (VA) is the act of checking a security system for
security flaws that might allow attackers to breach an
organization's network.
Regardless of the
fact that most of the organizations have already invested
corporate resources into anti-virus software, firewalls, and
perhaps IDS, it is not enough to stop the growing sophistication
and speed of emerging threats. Besides, modern network security
involves sophisticated hardware and software settings that must be
fine-tuned. Faulty setup and implementation of a firewall can
compromise a network's security. An improperly configured
operating system can leave an organization open to severe security
problems from external or internal sources. This makes it very
easy to inadvertently weaken the security of a network while
acceding to apparently well-intended requests from the users. VA
helps pinpoints all such configuration problems and also
identifies other vulnerabilities.
Vulnerability
Assessment follows the simple concept of looking at Client's
network from a hacker's perspective, but from inside the network.
However, Vulnerability Assessment involves more than imagining
attacks on the test network. The security holes discovered during
the audit will be documented, prioritizing each vulnerability
discovered according to risk, and recommendations will be given
for the implementation of appropriate fixes.
This exercise is
carried out from inside the network, and focuses on the following:
-
Configurations
of firewalls, IDS, Routers and Switches.
-
Identify
system-level vulnerabilities such as file permissions, user
account properties, registry settings, etc.
-
OS
patch level update.
-
Antivirus
Software configuration and Updation Schedule, etc.
Brief
Methodology
The methodology
consists of mainly two phases:
-
Network-based testing through automated tool
(These tools work by automating a hacker's typical first step:
trying to map your network. If the scanner finds any
vulnerable services and applications, instead of exploiting
them, the scanner reports them)
-
Detailed manual compliance testing
(Humans often discover more subtle security holes than
automated VA tools. Computers are simply not smart enough yet
to discover certain complicated, multi-step attack vectors,
which can be easily spotted by a human tester.)
The security holes
discovered during the audit are documented, prioritizing each
vulnerability discovered according to risk, and recommendations
for implementation of the appropriate fixes are provided.
Activities
Deliverables -
Vulnerability Assessment Report with recommendations
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