Vulnerability Assessments & Scanning
From Vulnerability Scanning to Actionable Outcomes
Actively pinpoint systems and devices that are susceptible to exploitation by attackers or harmful software, which could lead to data compromise or breaches.
What are Vulnerability Assessments?
A vulnerability assessment is a continuous and systematic process aimed at identifying, defining, classifying, and documenting cybersecurity weaknesses in endpoints, workloads, and systems.
Typically, these assessments are performed using automated tools from third-party security vendors. These tools assist organizations in recognizing existing vulnerabilities within their systems and help prioritize actions for fixing and patching them
Importance of Vulnerability Assessments
Vulnerabilities represent any flaws in the IT infrastructure that could be exploited by threat actors in a cyber attack, potentially granting them access to systems, applications, data, and other assets. Therefore, identifying these vulnerabilities before they are exploited by cybercriminals is vital for organizations.
Given the expanding and increasingly complex nature of the threat landscape, organizations might find hundreds or even thousands of vulnerabilities annually. Each of these could potentially lead to a security breach or attack. Conducting these scans manually is exceedingly time-consuming, to the extent that it would be nearly impossible for teams to detect and rectify all vulnerabilities in real-time.
Our Approach
Rhyno's specialists will assess your security defenses using both standard industry assessment tools and manual attack methods. These manual techniques are designed to reveal vulnerabilities that automated scans typically overlook. Our testing is conducted by professional ethical hackers who also have significant experience in incident response. This approach provides you with crucial insights from the viewpoint of an attacker.
Given the expanding and increasingly complex nature of the threat landscape, organizations might find hundreds or even thousands of vulnerabilities annually. Each of these could potentially lead to a security breach or attack. Conducting these scans manually is exceedingly time-consuming, to the extent that it would be nearly impossible for teams to detect and rectify all vulnerabilities in real-time.
Our Vulnerability Scanning team will test your:
- Networks
- Servers
- Routers
- Mobile devices
- Websites
- Web applications
Our expertise in vulnerability assessment allows us to choose and fine-tune the most suitable tools specifically for your industry and IT infrastructure. Additionally, we will collaborate with your internal IT team to arrange a scanning schedule that ensures your critical systems and services remain uninterrupted.
From Vulnerability Scanning to Actionable Outcomes
After completing the vulnerability scan, our experienced team will review the results and provide a structured set of prioritized, actionable suggestions to enhance your information security stance. By applying our expert analysis to extensive data, we will identify the most urgent security concerns that require immediate attention and offer you a strategy for ongoing enhancement.
Types of Vulnerability Assessments
A thorough vulnerability assessment process uses a range of automated tools to conduct various scans throughout the entire IT infrastructure. This approach helps an organization detect vulnerabilities in applications, endpoints, workloads, databases, and systems.
The primary types of scans in the vulnerability assessment process are:
Network-based Scan
- Detects vulnerabilities susceptible to network security breaches.
- Covers assessments of both traditional and wireless networks.
- Reinforces existing network security controls and policies.
Host-based Scan
- Identifies vulnerabilities in systems, servers, containers, workstations, workloads, or other network hosts.
- Typically implemented through an agent that scans monitored devices and hosts to spot unauthorized activities, changes, or system issues.
- Provides improved insights into system configurations and patch histories.
Application Scan
- Discovers vulnerabilities in software applications, encompassing application architecture, source code, and databases.
- Detects misconfigurations and security flaws in web and network applications.
Database Scan
- Finds vulnerabilities in database systems or servers.
- Aims to thwart database-specific attacks like SQL injections and spots other issues like escalated privileges and misconfigurations.
Our Process
For optimal security, once the scope and processes of the program are established, continuous scans are recommended to proactively spot weaknesses in the ever-evolving landscape. We adhere to these five steps for a vulnerability assessment:
Program Scoping and Preparation
Rhyno and the IT teams determine the program's scope and objectives, focusing on accurately defining the attack surface and identifying the most significant threats.
- Cataloging all assets, devices, and endpoints for the scan, along with the software, operating systems, and applications on these assets.
- Detailing the security controls and policies for each asset.
- Assessing the impact of each asset in a breach scenario, like whether it contains or processes sensitive data.
Vulnerability Testing
Rhyno performs automated scans on the identified assets to find potential vulnerabilities. This step involves specialized tools, utilizing existing vulnerability databases or threat intelligence feeds for detection and classification.
Prioritization
Post-assessment, rhyno and the client evaluate all discovered vulnerabilities to determine which pose the highest risk.
- Vulnerability scores from databases or intelligence tools.
- Business impact if exploited (e.g., is sensitive data at risk?).
- Known exposure and history of the vulnerability (likelihood of criminal knowledge or previous exploitation).
- Exploitability and availability of patches or remediation efforts.
Reporting
The tool generates a detailed report, giving the security team a comprehensive view of vulnerabilities. It prioritizes these vulnerabilities and offers remediation guidance.
- Discovery details of the vulnerability.
- Affected systems or assets.
- Exploitation likelihood.
- Potential business damage if exploited.
- Patch availability and deployment effort.
Continuous Improvement
Due to the dynamic nature of vulnerabilities, assessments should be regular and frequent. This ensures ongoing resolution of past vulnerabilities and the detection of new ones.
It's also advisable to integrate vulnerability assessments into the continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) process, addressing vulnerabilities early in the development cycle, thus fortifying potential exploits before deployment.
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