Implement Vulnerability Assessment Consulting Services

For every new day, new vulnerabilities can arise in your organization's environment. The increase in BYOD (bring your own device) working environments and employees working from home has changed the way that organizations operate. The control of vulnerabilities no longer operates in the same way as it was only a few years ago. When all employees were working on the same office network, the act of scanning for vulnerabilities was more simplistic than employees that work on the cloud. However, even if your employees are working in the same office network, cybersecurity threats are continuing to grow. For these reasons, implementing vulnerability assessment consulting services is critical. They are an essential step towards protecting your environment from cybersecurity attacks. When vulnerability assessment consulting services are implemented in your environment, the service provider will scan your environment and begin remediating any vulnerabilities.

The Basics of Vulnerability Assessment Consulting Services

Vulnerability management is a cyclical process. First, a scan will be conducted against your environment to detect vulnerabilities that will need to be patched. Next, a rescan will be conducted, beginning the cycle over again. The goal of the vulnerability management cycle is to find vulnerabilities and patch them before a hacker can exploit them. When vulnerability assessment consulting services are implemented regularly, an organization will be better protected from a cyber-attack. Patching vulnerabilities helps to reduce the size of the attack surface. This reduces the opportunities for a hacker to exploit a vulnerability. Vulnerabilities are caused by unsupported software, outdated software, misconfiguration of software, or a vulnerability of software that has been downloaded on your system.

The Cycle

In the vulnerability management cyber, first, the engineer will target the assets that they want to scan. The engineer will then configure the scan, schedule it, and compile a report. The report will be checked for false positives and a remediation plan will be suggested. They then will start the process over again by implementing another scan, looking for new vulnerabilities or vulnerabilities that have not yet been remediated. The cycle: scan, remediate, and rescan is repeated in an ongoing process so that threats can continue to be identified and responded to.

Assessments

Vulnerability assessments are a great initial step to secure the low hanging risk within your environment. The test will be conducted against your internal systems and internal perimeters with a technique that simulates a real-world attack. These tests can be done on both the internal and external systems and either manually or automated. Vulnerability Assessments are a great way to gain insights into the vulnerabilities in your environment and then establish necessary steps towards remediation.

The Difference Between Vulnerability Management and Penetration Testing

A penetration test differs from vulnerability assessments because pen tests aim to find vulnerabilities that can be exploited, and vulnerability assessments aim to find vulnerabilities. Both are critical in remediating vulnerabilities that may cause potential harm to your organization; however, the methods and potential outcomes are different. Many organizations choose to carry out both tests in tandem as they can complement one another.

The Risks of NOT Managing Vulnerabilities

Organizations that do not implement vulnerability assessment consulting services are put at a greater risk for cybersecurity attacks. Organizations that continuously scan for vulnerabilities are likely to have a smaller attack surface for an attacker can exploit. By being proactive in your security plan, your organization can save money and time. Implementing vulnerability assessment consulting services helps to prevent your organization from harmful cybersecurity breaches. These breaches are expensive to repair and often result in data being lost permanently. Additionally, a security breach can result in a loss of trust from customers.

Many organizations are required to achieve a certain level of security compliance based on their industry. Conducting vulnerability assessment consulting services is often a major part of achieving compliance with your industry’s standards. Being in non-compliance with industry standards can result in fines. Ensure that your organization's vulnerability management program is up to date to best protect your organization from a cyber-attack and be in compliance with industry standards.

Types of Vulnerability Assessment Consulting Services

• Application scans

• Wireless network scans

• Network-based scans

• Host-based scans