With new vulnerabilities constantly being identified, the volume of issues to fix can be overwhelming. Organizations must prioritize vulnerability remediation work based on asset criticality to make the process more manageable. Identify your critical assets, such as product research, intellectual property, financial statements, and customer information. Evaluate interdependencies between them to understand how a compromise of one would impact others.
Perform a Scanning
The first step in implementing operationalized vulnerability assessment activities is to scan the organization’s IT environments for vulnerabilities. This is done using specific vulnerability scanning tools and should be repeated regularly to ensure the latest devices are used. A comprehensive view of the IT environment is obtained. The scanning process typically includes both internal and external scans, as well as manual testing.
A combination of these techniques is the best approach to ensuring that all vulnerabilities are discovered. The results of these scans should then be reviewed and prioritized based on their impact on the business. This helps to focus efforts and resources on those vulnerabilities that will be the most difficult to mitigate or are of the most significant risk.
Performing a scanning activity is essential because the attack surface can change day-to-day and even minute-by-minute, making it necessary to scan for weaknesses in an organization’s IT systems constantly. The resulting reports provide an invaluable snapshot of the current state of the organization’s vulnerability posture and should be regularly reviewed to identify any newly detected vulnerabilities.
Vulnerability Assessment
A vulnerability assessment identifies and analyzes the vulnerabilities in a computer system, network, or web application. A thorough evaluation offers an organization a clear understanding of security flaws in its IT infrastructure and a means to mitigate those weaknesses before cybercriminals exploit them. A complete assessment includes multiple types of scans and tests to identify vulnerabilities in an IT environment.
These tests may include a network-based review that examines externally accessible ports, a wireless network scan that detects rogue access points or vulnerabilities in the Wi-Fi infrastructure, an application scan that looks for open software vulnerabilities or incorrect configurations in web applications, and a database assessment to identify rogue databases or insecure dev/test environments.
Once these scans and tests are available, they must be analyzed to understand each vulnerability’s impact on an organization’s infrastructure and business processes. Ideally, this step is conducted with the help of an automated tool that uses a wide range of capabilities, including those related to threat intelligence and vulnerability scanning data. This tool should also be able to assign a risk level and priority to each vulnerability, making it easier for IT teams to focus on those risks that could cause the most damage.
A vulnerability assessment can also identify gaps in security procedures and internal controls. These weaknesses must be closed to ensure compliance with regulations like the GDPR and PCI DSS and prevent hackers from accessing sensitive information.
Threat Assessment
A comprehensive vulnerability assessment program is a critical part of any security strategy. The process should be a regular activity in cooperation with the development, operations, and security teams — a practice known as DevSecOps. In addition to automated scanning, it should include physical and operational risk assessments and a review of all policies and procedures.
It should also include an analysis of vulnerabilities based on impact and likelihood. A threat assessment aims to identify and assess potential dangers to students, staff, and property safety. A threat could be communicated or expressed verbally, behaviorally, graphically, in writing, electronically, or through other means. A threat assessment team or program is designed to help schools identify, inquire into, assess, and manage a variety of troubling behaviors that could lead to threats, violence, or harm.
When performing a threat assessment, it’s essential to have visibility into all assets in the environment. This includes hardware, software, and data. It’s also important to consider the sensitivity of each asset class and the potential for threats from third-party external sources and internal users. Once the risks are identified, they need to be prioritized. This will help the organization determine the best action, remediation, or avoidance.
Vulnerability Remediation
A comprehensive vulnerability management program is essential to protect a company’s systems and data from cybercriminals. By identifying flaws in system defenses, evaluating and prioritizing them, and remediating the risks associated with those vulnerabilities, the program reduces the likelihood that malicious actors will breach and compromise company systems or networks. The first step in the vulnerability assessment process involves scanning for vulnerabilities and determining their level of risk.
A detailed analysis of the threats that could impact each type of sensitive information should be performed, including third-party outsiders and employees (many serious data breaches have been initiated by employees attempting to access their accounts or sharing account credentials with colleagues). Vulnerability assessments are only complete with an evaluation of mitigation options. This includes patching, user & performance management, configuration hardening, and software management – all crucial for OT/ICS systems.
Mitigation is more effective than remediation because it limits the effect of a threat rather than directly removing it. This four-step process departs from the mainstream use of the vulnerability concept. It echoes social-ecological systems thinking, moving vulnerability away from its original natural hazards and climate perspectives to one that includes people as both a cause and recipient of environmental impacts. It also offers a more holistic approach to identifying practical interventions that most appropriately reflect and respond to the place-based context of the social-ecological system.