Every year, cyber-attacks increasingly harm businesses. This year alone, the cost of dealing with data breaches due to cyber-attacks reached $4.88 million per incident, according to an IBM report. Fourteen percent of these breaches involved vulnerability exploitation, as reported by Verizon Business. This indicates that many companies still fail to identify their vulnerabilities, making it easier for hackers to launch attacks.
This reality underscores the growing importance of implementing vulnerability assessments in business. By conducting regular vulnerability assessments, companies and organizations can more effectively identify potential vulnerabilities, minimize attacks, and protect their digital assets.
So, what exactly is a vulnerability assessment, and what are the best solutions? Find out more in this article.
What are Vulnerabilities and Vulnerability Assessment?
A vulnerability is a weakness or flaw in hardware or software that could provide a hacker with access to your data and information. Vulnerabilities can usually be fixed through patching or correcting misconfigurations.
Vulnerability assessment is a method for evaluating vulnerabilities in computing systems by searching for, analyzing, and mitigating weaknesses. This process minimizes the chances of hackers attacking and gaining access to your system and devices.
There are several types of vulnerability assessments, including:
- Server Assessment: Evaluating vulnerabilities in critical servers that may be susceptible to attacks
- Network and Resource Assessment: Preventing hackers from accessing private or public networks and data resources accessible via networks
- Database Assessment: Evaluating vulnerabilities and configurations in databases
- Application Scanning: Identifying security vulnerabilities in web applications and their source code
5 Types of Web Application Vulnerabilities
According to documents released by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), there are several security risks in web applications. Here are five of them:
1. Broken Access Control
94% of evaluated applications have broken access control, the most common issue found in applications.
2. Cryptographic Failures
Cryptographic failures often lead to the leakage of sensitive data and system damage.
3. Injection Attacks
Malicious file injections, such as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), are also common in applications.
4. Insecure Design
Systems designed with low security from the start.
5. Security Misconfigurations
90% of applications have security misconfigurations, often due to the increasing number of configurable software.
The above security risks can occur if companies do not conduct thorough assessments. Learn about different vulnerability assessment styles below.
4 Types of Vulnerability Assessment Styles
Research from Tenable Research in its Cyber Defender Strategies report reveals four common styles of vulnerability assessment performed by companies or organizations:
1. Minimalist
Assessment is done minimally, limited to specific assets, but the risk of attacks is higher.
2. Surveyor
The surveyor assesses vulnerabilities more frequently with broader coverage than minimalist but does not use authentication, resulting in low to medium security levels.
3. Investigator
The investigator assesses with a solid strategy, using authentication and prioritizing assets along with targeted scan templates.
4. Diligent
Only five percent of companies apply Diligent, achieving near-continuous visibility of all their assets, regularly assessing targeted vulnerabilities across all assets.
6 Benefits of Conducting Vulnerability Assessments
By adopting stricter and more regular vulnerability assessment styles, you can protect your company’s systems from cyber-attacks. Here are six benefits you can gain:
1. Identify Vulnerabilities Early
Discover vulnerabilities, from software flaws, missing patches, malware, to misconfigurations, before attackers do.
2. Map Your Assets
Greater visibility into your assets helps map out all potential attacks.
3. Keep an Up-to-Date Asset Inventory
Maintain an inventory of all your assets, even those that only occasionally connect to your network.
4. Identify Potential Threats
With vulnerability assessments, you can identify potential cyber threats and make decisions to secure and minimize their impact.
5. Audit Patching
Vulnerability assessment reports help manage patching plans better, providing insights into every configuration change.
6. Clearer Assessment Reporting
Vulnerability assessment results make it easier to present to stakeholders and customers.
All the above benefits can only be achieved with the use of comprehensive and effective tools in identifying and managing vulnerabilities, such as Tenable’s vulnerability assessment tools.
Also Read: Threat Detection and Response: A Critical Element, but Not the Whole Solution
Vulnerability Assessment Tool from Tenable
Tenable One is an Exposure Management Platform that allows you to see all potential attack surfaces, focusing on prevention and effectively communicating the risks of these threats. This platform combines various tools to detect and manage vulnerabilities in your system.
With Tenable’s comprehensive and effective vulnerability assessment tools, you can mitigate worst-case scenarios using its powerful and flexible features.
Advantages of Tenable
Here are some of the advantages of using Tenable’s solutions:
- Quick and Accurate Identification: Quickly identify vulnerabilities in your system and provide accurate remediation information.
- Reduce Security Risks: Identify and fix vulnerabilities before exploitation occurs to reduce the risk of cyber attacks.
- Regulatory Compliance: Help businesses comply with applicable cybersecurity standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and more.
- Operational Efficiency: Automate scanning and reporting so your security team can focus on other critical tasks.
Key Features of Tenable One
Here are Tenable’s standout features that can assist you in conducting vulnerability assessments:
- Vulnerability Scanning: Discover and identify vulnerabilities in systems, applications, and networks, providing detailed descriptions, vulnerability levels, and mitigation steps.
- Risk Management: Measure and evaluate the risks of vulnerabilities based on their impact on the company.
- Reporting and Dashboard: Provide reports through an interactive and easy-to-understand dashboard to monitor security status, customizable to your needs.
- Integration with Other Tools: Integrate with other security tools such as SIEM, patch management tools, and security orchestration platforms.
Get Vulnerability Assessment Solutions Only at Virtus
Start using Tenable‘s Vulnerability Assessment solutions to avoid significant business losses. The experienced and certified professionals at Virtus Technology Indonesia (VTI) will help you implement Tenable solutions, from consultation, and maintenance, to after-sales support, preventing trial and error.
Consult now with the Virtus team through the following link.
Author: Anggita Olivia Herman – Content Writer CTI Group
