Vulnerability testing appliances are all the rage nowadays thanks to the increase of cyber crime and hacker attacks since the dawn of the Internet.
The worldwide web's sudden boost in popularity has somewhat become a double-edged sword for many corporations and organizations out there.
On one hand, it's one of the best mediums in existence that connects people, businesses, and countries together in one big virtual space; borders are nigh-meaningless nowadays thanks to the information superhighway, and many a company had profited from this fact to boot.
On the other hand, this ubiquitous inter connectivity has made it all the more easier for skilled crackers and virtual villains to invade whole websites using their worms, botnets, and other malware.
A vulnerability testing program isn't enough to do the job of protecting your data from the evils of cyberspace; after all, you run the risk of infecting that very software once you run it inside a compromised system.
Ergo, a vulnerability testing appliance is the way to go because it's able to pinpoint the code flaw that the hacker is using to steal your information or vandalize your network.
In terms of preemptively identifying bugs, glitches, and weaknesses in a site's source code or security measures, the hardware version of a vulnerability tester is still superior to a software one because you won't have to bother with the installation process or run the risk of compatibility issues.
You just need to plug and test; after that, you're done.
At any rate, the best network vulnerability assessment devices out there are capable of handling fifty to up to two hundred thousand nodes.
One main indicator that your hardware is up to snuff is its ability to one-up its software counterpart that's limited to testing a series of HTTP requests against already defined CGI strings.
Premium-grade network testers are also capable of performing deep and comprehensive examinations for security weaknesses by themselves without the help of a human penetration tester or white hat hacker; after all, availing of penetration testing is quite expensive, plus a vulnerability appliance already has the help of its company's in-house security experts on hand depending on how critical your system's vulnerabilities are.
Then again, all vulnerability scanners are limited by how big or updated their databases are—no exceptions.
The more advanced vulnerability detecting machines available can also find new services and equipment with every scan, so they can add them to the inspection schedule without your prompting to boot.
A decent vulnerability testing appliance should be able to examine and inspect every last node based on its traits.
It then should report its reactions to reveal security issues (or the lack thereof) in applications, operating systems, and equipment even before a hacker could expose that unforeseen glitch to his advantage.
Depending on the type of vulnerability scanner you've gotten, it may even altogether simulate an actual hack attack on your system in order to show you the level of risk your machine, OS, or software is under.