Understanding the Process of Vulnerability Assessment

In computer technology, vulnerabilities are defined as the primary gateways where network security threats are manifested. These vulnerabilities can be exploited by hackers and criminal elements and will try to penetrate the network either to steal information or to wreak havoc and disrupt operations. That is why network administrators should regularly perform vulnerability assessment tests and monitoring to secure the network from such attacks. With the use of state of the art hardware such as penetration testing, antispam appliance, and content monitoring tools, assessments of vulnerabilities can become easier.

The primary cause of vulnerabilities of most corporate networks is administrative error. There are times that system administrators and security engineers can commit configuration errors when building networks. These configuration errors can lead to serious security threats if they will remain un-patched. The problem is that manual vulnerability assessment can be very time consuming and tedious. It is also prone to further human errors thus aggravating the vulnerabilities. That is why companies normally automate this task by using penetration testing tools to find unsecured areas of the network. For companies maintaining mail servers, they could use antispam appliance and mail server security monitoring in order to protect the electronic mailing system of the network.

A penetration testing appliance capable of performing vulnerability assessment is a plug and play technology. Network administrators can simply set up the device as a security gateway of the local network. When deployed, the security appliance will automatically perform periodic assessments and detect probable sources of security threats. From the automated reports gathered from such assessments, administrators and IT managers can implement solutions and countermeasures that will patch the vulnerabilities. The process is similar also for configuring mail server security appliance. An antispam appliance will be configured to monitor incoming mails. It can detect spam mails that may contain malicious content. A threat management mail system will also provide reports for administrators so they can implement new security solutions and electronic mail policies.

However, a vulnerability assessment will be effective only if network administrators will follow baseline security standards and implement security patches released by developers and vendors. If administrators will not adhere and abide by security advisories, then their networks will remain vulnerable to attacks. One of the best ways to simplify security management is to implement a unified threat management system. A UTM system can perform comprehensive network vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, spam and web content filtering. A UTM device therefore can serve as anti-penetration hardware and antispam appliance. Such system will simplify the work of network administrators and will bulletproof corporate networks from malicious attacks.

Performing periodic security and vulnerability tests is very critical if you want to protect your corporate networks from hackers. Without effective monitoring and assessment tools, you cannot expect that your network will be 100 percent safe from attacks. And to ensure that network monitoring and assessment will be free from human errors, you need to deploy a unified threat management appliance that will secure your network from external and internal security threats.