Everything You Need to Know About Vulnerability Analysis

Vulnerability Analysis

It is possible to do a vulnerability analysis on communication or electrical systems, for example. In addition, both small and large organizations can benefit from it. A vulnerability analysis is completely different from a penetration test, after all, your goals are different. While the test will explore specific invasion tactics, the vulnerability analysis will identify any loopholes that exist in a system.

To analyze vulnerabilities, therefore, is to find flaws and loopholes that can be exploited in order to harm the company's work, whether due to an event or by someone. These failures exist as a consequence of several factors: they may have arisen from human failures, through programming errors, the poor configuration of systems, or other activities that have not been completed satisfactorily.

The main objective of applying this type of analysis in the company is to identify all the flaws that exist and that can seriously damage the business, eliminating each one as they arise. It is important to highlight that the vulnerabilities are not constant, after all, they can appear at any time during the useful life of hardware and systems. Because of this, the vulnerability analysis needs to be carried out on an ongoing basis.

How to Perform an Efficient Vulnerability Analysis?

The application of the vulnerability analysis presents some basic routines, which seek to identify the flaws that exist in an IT infrastructure, classifying them according to the need for intervention.

That is, from the most critical failure to the least critical failure, so that it is possible to prioritize the main points and make an initial correction, gradually improving the security of your business information. See what the main activities of a vulnerability analysis are!

Identify all Information Technology assets

The initial step of this type of analysis is to seek to know all the IT assets that are part of the company's technology infrastructure. We can mention, for example, software, hardware, and peopleware.

From this survey, it is already possible to have an idea of ​​where the main vulnerabilities are and what are critical activities must be addressed.

Use a vulnerability scan

Along with the IT inventory, it is essential to use a vulnerability scan tool. By making use of this solution periodically, approximately once a month, it will be possible to manage assets by putting the necessary corrections into practice.

After reducing all vulnerabilities to a level that can be accepted, everything that has not been detected is seen as a residual risk and in order to be able to analyze the potential of its existence, it is necessary to move on to the next item.

Do intrusion tests

The application of an intrusion test comes after the application of the scan and is essential for the vulnerability analysis to be successful. It is from there that one can analyze where the main failures are and how they can be used to harm the business.

It can be carried out by a contracted professional or by a collaborator, the first option being much more suitable, as an outsider may have an extremely different view of the systems, and may find loopholes that a company employee would not see.

Make a list of the main vulnerabilities and fix them

Once you've identified all the vulnerabilities and assets in your information technology infrastructure, it's time to make a list in order of relevance. Therefore, the first major failure will come, which can harm the company.

The list is very useful as a guide to perform the correction, as solutions will be determined according to the importance of each of the flaws that were found, in order to correct all of them.

Maintain constant control

Vulnerability analysis is not a one-time activity. It is necessary to maintain periodic control to ensure data security at any time. The most recommended is to determine a period of time, during which the vulnerability analysis will be done and as soon as a new asset is updated in some way or included in the infrastructure, apply it.

It is important to emphasize that there are companies specialized in information security, which have specific software that can perform the analysis in an automated way. Partnering with a specialized company can be much more advantageous than establishing internal routines, as there will be no need to hire specialist professionals every day, provided, therefore, with the consulting of the partner company.

Another benefit of outsourcing is to unload the company's information technology sector, which will be able to use its total efforts to improve internal routines, leaving security under the full responsibility of the partner company.

What is the Purpose of Vulnerability Analysis?

There are several objectives for implementing a vulnerability analysis routine in the company. See the main ones below:

• modify and improve the software configuration in order to make it more efficient and secure;
• identify and correct gaps in systems that may impair functionality, security, and performance;
• visualize and create security solutions according to the needs found;
• ensure constant improvement of the organization's entire security infrastructure;
• use ways to contain automated attacks;
• document all routines and security levels used in the company to ward off threats.

What Are the Technologies for Analyzing the Company's Vulnerability and Protection?

At the same time that new modes of attack are emerging, there are also several protection initiatives. Check out some technologies for vulnerability analysis below!

Protection

Remote monitoring of systems and investment in managed antivirus may be the only way to effectively detect and prevent attacks.

Update

All systems must be properly updated. This is an indispensable detail, as this way you will ensure the reliability of the equipment, taking advantage of all the vulnerability fixes created by the developers in their latest releases.

Backup

The use of backup technology is far more complex than its current use in most companies - going far beyond just one copy. Know, therefore, that investing in the quality backup can really save your business during a crisis like this.

Training

Training employees and creating security policies are the first steps to avoid phishing and social engineering - two of the biggest ways to distribute ransomware.

Layered security

To ensure the operational security of an enterprise, it is important to invest in a layered security strategy. Such a solution will target several levels of protection, with internal and external combat tools. Generally, the four layers are:

• endpoint: verifying and protecting the security of physical devices that use the company's network, such as servers, cell phones, tablets, computers, and the like;
• e-mail: protecting all addresses and domains of internal communication, preventing infection from opening malicious e-mails;
• private network: with traffic management solutions, bandwidth control, firewalls, free antivirus software, and the like;
• backup: ensuring that the company has recovery strategies against accidents and attacks, updating the storage of essential information periodically, both in the cloud and on physical media.

Real-time file analysis

This strategy is applied to physical devices. The purpose is to make a real scan of every new file or element connected to the machines, ensuring an immediate reaction and a quick diagnosis in case of infection.

Offline protection

This is a strategy that complements the analysis of files in real-time. However, the analysis can be done online, especially when it comes to email protection solutions, with automatic scans of senders and attachments.

Off-line protection, as the name suggests, prioritizes scanning files and the machine when they are not connected to any network. For this, it is important to have excellent antivirus software, which has a report of internal and external threats well updated, making it easier to identify malicious elements.

So, it is essential to understand that ransomware attacks will become more and more common in the future since this modality is a safe and extremely profitable business for cybercriminals, who are hiding behind their computers in very distant places.

Invest in applied security

Therefore, investment in applied security is increasingly urgent, ensuring that the company has the means to protect its projects. In this sense, we highlight the various tools like Backup, Service Desk, RMM, and MailAssure, which present the best resources to ensure the protection of its customers.

Finally, with the constant practice of vulnerability analysis, a company can acquire several returns, as well as the possibility of:

• list the actions necessary to correct the weaknesses;
• identify and reduce flaws that can seriously compromise the functionality, performance, and security of your application;
• view more complete reports ;
• enable compliance with compliance standards ;
• monitor the evolution of environmental safety.

The vulnerability analysis report consists of fundamental data that indicate the best strategy to keep the company's environment always protected from attacks, failures, and invasions, based on a complete assessment, helping in a more practical, easy, and correct way to take a decision on information security. So, don't waste any more time and invest in a good vulnerability analysis in your business, always counting on the help of a serious and qualified company.

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