Vulnerability scanning or vulnerability assessment is a systematic process of finding security loopholes in any system addressing the potential vulnerabilities.
The purpose of vulnerability assessments is to prevent the possibility of unauthorised access to your systems. A “system” in this instance can be a network, a web app, a server, among other things.
Vulnerability scanning (or testing, as it is commonly called) preserves the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your system. It helps you find vulnerabilities before hackers find them so that you can avoid the headaches that ensure when your systems are hacked.
Table of Contents
Yes. The reason for this is simple: vulnerabilities can exist in a number of different places, like your laptop, internet routers, web applications, IoT devices, corporate networks and even databases.
Some vulnerability scanners can find vulnerabilities in more than one type of environment. But no single vulnerability scanner is built to find vulnerabilities in ALL environments.
There are essentially four types of vulnerability scanners:
During our many years of experience as a software company where we build and secure our own Cloud EBS Testing Automation tool, we’ve understood that not all vulnerability scanners are created equal.
What do I mean by this?
Because you’re building and, likely, maintaining a web application that has many releases throughout the year, you need a web application vulnerability scanner that can work with your software development processes.
Not every vulnerability testing tool helps your software engineers stick to their strict timelines. Most vulnerability scanning tools are actually built for cybersecurity experts, which does not really help if your engineers have little or no application security experience.
You see, finding vulnerabilities is just one part of the game. Finding something that actually fits all your commercial objectives is entirely more difficult.
Asking the right questions before you subscribe to a cloud-based vulnerability scanner for your software could save you a lot of time, headaches and money.
These are the questions you MUST ask before agreeing to pay for a vulnerability scanning tool:
You may have heard of DAST, IAST and SAST – they are all application security testing methodologies used to find security vulnerabilities in web apps. But they operate very differently:
Common sense says that If you’re going to spend money, spend it on something that can cover as much of your code and environment as possible. This is why an IAST web application vulnerability scanner like Cyber Chief will give you more value for money.
Your software developers already have a lot of distractions throughout their working day. Like you they lead busy lives and have people to answer to and deadlines to hit.
Their ability to deliver on time, in particular, can become very difficult if their workflow is slowed down by a vulnerability scanning tool that doesn’t tell them exactly how to patch a vulnerability.
Unfortunately, most vulnerability scanning tools point users in the direction of external websites to learn how to patch a vulnerability. This can be the beginning of a rabbit hole that leads to your software engineers spending endless hours scouring Google.
The best vulnerability scanning tools, like Cyber Chief, present all recommendations in common coding languages. So irrespective of whether your application is coded in Java, .Net, Python or Rails, the vulnerability scanning tool’s recommendations should show your engineers exactly what code they need to change and where.
Feature 3: Does the company behind the vulnerability scanning tool listen to your feature requests?
Like any software, no cloud-based vulnerability scanner is perfect. During your buying journey, you will have to weigh the trade-offs between different tools.
While this is normal for any purchasing process, software or otherwise, what you should also consider is just how responsive will the company behind the tool be to your feature requests.
Do they point you to their generic “online feature request form” or will they give you a dedicated contact who will listen to and understand your challenges?
This is a critical part of “ongoing support” that is seldom considered when it comes to SaaS or cloud-based tools.
Is there a foolproof vulnerability scanner that will stop any hackers from ever breaching your system?
Unfortunately, no. There is no “foolproof” or “ironclad” way to ensure that you will not be hacked. But there are proven ways to ensure that your team has minimised the likelihood of a serious cybersecurity breach of your web app.
Using vulnerability scanning tools as part of your regular software engineering processes is that “proven way”. Giving your engineers access to the right tool can make their life as easy and comfortable as a caring and gentle family dentist Preston.
________________
Author Bio
Ayush is the Co-Founder of Audacix. World-class SaaS and digital software teams use Audacix’s and penetration testing services to avoid “oh s**t Monday’s”!
He recently spoke at the Tech In Asia conference about “low hanging fruit” AppSec initiatives that help software teams elevate their application security resilience.
If you want to ship your SaaS with zero security holes and fewer bugs, talk to Ayush’s team now.
Delta 9 THC gummies have gained immense popularity among young adults in recent years, offering…
Imagine staring down to a growing belly. It's not all sunshine and rainbows though as…
Imagine strolling through the sunny streets, wearing the perfect pair of shoes, and making each…
In the realm of medical science, few battles are as formidable as the fight against…
When it comes to safeguarding your health, especially in a globalized world, having the right…
Buying a flat in Dwarka is a dream for many out there. It is one…
This website uses cookies.