Vulnerability Scans - Isolate the weak security points in your IT systems

A Vulnerability Scan is a relatively simple way to test your IT systems risk to scams, theft or sabotage. It's an application that, when applied correctly and with the right advice, is an extremely efficient and effective strategy for SMB's.

With the cloud becoming the norm, your user-interface and other systems and devices become your frontline cyber-security guards by default. Therefore, it is now more imperative than ever to ensure you are 'sure and secure'.

A Vulnerability Scanner is an application that can:

• Identify and create an inventory of all your systems (including desktops, laptops, tablets, servers if you still have one, virtual devices, personal devices, firewalls, switches, wi-fi and printers) connected to a network.

• Identify all operating systems and the software installed, along with other attributes such as open ports and user accounts.

• Attempt to log in to systems using default, standard issue or common credentials.

• Check each item in the inventory against selected databases of known vulnerabilities

Apart from having an effective inventory of items in your IT systems, the outcome from the scan is a calculated risk list of vulnerabilities for each and every part of your system.

With the right advice and consultation from a knowledgeable source like Loyal IT, you can then prioritise which vulnerabilities need to be explored and how they should be mitigated.

As a point of interest for small to medium sized businesses that no longer have a server (and utilise 'the cloud'), one of the most effective risk mitigation strategies is to have an effective hardware management regime, a little bit like a vehicle fleet management regime; but more about this in our next blog.