Network vulnerability assessment is a scanning procedure that analyzes the networks on various devices and computers for security vulnerabilities. The inspection exposes security issues in the networks that hackers can exploit, thereby preventing sensitive data breaches.
Moreover, ongoing network vulnerability assessments are used to identify defects in an organization’s network prior to security breaches.
The Need for Vulnerability Assessments
The main goal for network vulnerability assessments is to highlight weaknesses in network infrastructures. This way, organizations get a clear understanding of their network environment as well as the security defects in it.
Therefore, through network vulnerability assessments organizations can assess if they’re able to meet the standards of security, for example, in the banking industry to carry out business operations; or in the healthcare sector, to handle the patient’s data responsibly.
Methods to Conduct Network Vulnerability Assessments
Your organization can choose one of these methods to conduct a vulnerability assessment:
The Black Box Method
A security team acts like a real hacker while performing the black box method of vulnerability assessment. The team will find various methods to breach the organization’s network in order to get useful information. The only things visible to them are the public IP addresses, systems in demilitarized zones and a firewall’s external interface. The security team doesn’t have any access to any administrator privileges or other databases.
The White Box Method
A cybersecurity team performing the white box method has the privileges of other network authorized users. Therefore, they’re able to view the network with all its databases, file servers, etc. moreover, the security team has access to the various servers that operate inside the network. This way, they don’t just asses the network for security defects, but they also assess the security of the devices placed in the network.
The Gray Box Method
This method involves steps of both the approaches mentioned above but is more similar to the black box method of network vulnerability assessment. Security teams choose this method of network assessment when they have partial information regarding a network, such as its login details, but don’t have access to substantial information.
Steps Involved In Network Vulnerability Assessment
These are the steps involved in assessing your network’s security:
Step # 1
The first step is to understand how your business operates, whether it relies on the collaboration between different business units that take care of issues like regulatory compliance and customer privacy, etc.
Step # 2
Identifying which applications are used frequently during business procedures and which are sensitive to privacy breaches.
Step # 3
Identify the data sources, such as a cloud-based network, that may be an easy security breach target.
Step # 4
Keep track of all the network protection software that’s running in your system.
Step # 5
Run a network vulnerability assessment to identify security vulnerabilities in your system.
Are you looking for network vulnerability assessment for your organization? Get in touch with Lean Security!
Our experts can assess the technical vulnerabilities of your business to identify what might be affecting it negatively, and check if your current security system is up to date. You can call us at +61 (2) 8078 6952 for more information.