Network Security Scanner - the Information You Need

If you are interested in learning more about network security, understanding what a network security scanner is can be very important.

A network security scanner is a type of scanner that is designed to carefully discover any vulnerability that might exist within a network.

However, there are many argument types of network software security scanners that are operating in use today.

In many different industries, there are a number of options in network security vulnerability scanners that are used.

For instance, a physical network security scanner can be connected to a network.

It will monitor all connections incoming and outgoing from the network in order to ensure that no harmful viruses or malware enters the network.

 

Features of a good Network Security Scanner

A good network security scanner includes a number of different features, some of which have been mentioned below:

Priority remediation and auditing: The network security scanner should be able to combine vulnerability, asset criticality information as well as severity in order to be able to first single out, and then address any violations or vulnerabilities that might exist within the system.

New threat identification: a good network security scanner is updated on a regular basis, which means that it will be able to identify any new or unknown threats, and then quarantine them until further instructions are input within the system.

A good network security scanner is able to rank the risk potential of different threats, and then provide a clear lit to the user depending upon the types of threats that the network has been bombarded with.

Network security scanners are provided by a number of different companies.

What Is a Network Security Scanner?

A network security scanner is a scanner deployed by companies to scan their networks and websites that are exposed to online outlaws and virtual villains thanks to the public accessibility of the Internet, which is just par for the course.

More to the point, companies depend on these scanners to scan and identify vulnerabilities, security holes, bugs, glitches, and other code flaw types before the black hat hackers do for the sake of the safety of a given webpage or server.

With that said, a fully integrated network scanner should have full compatibility with popular propriety software and whatnot so that it's not pigeonholed into fulfilling the needs of a certain brand or consumer base.

How to Identify Vulnerabilities?

A worthwhile security scanner is one that's compatible with everything to the point of almost being universally compatible.

It can be used on all the latest operating systems, plus it should be able to run regardless if it's scanning virtualized or physical environments.

Even if it's in the cloud, that should not be a hindrance to it scanning your site so that you'd be safe from whatever malware, exploit, or hacking technique that black hats can bring to the table. A must-buy network security scanner is one that's able to adapt to the changing times, even up until the point where all software programs are virtual or online instead of offline and installed via disks.

Manage Patches

Another key concern regarding the quality of your scanner is its ability to manage patches.

Every time a new program is made, it's only natural that it'd have a lot of security holes and glitches even way after beta testing is over. Some programs are even made free in the wild as "open source" so that programmers from all over the world could provide their two cents in improving it as well as correcting flawed coding.

Your network security scanner should be well-updated when it comes to patch releases as well as vulnerability identification so that in case a exploit is made, your network would be ready and vigilant against such threats.

Automatic Update for the latest Vulnerabilities

In many ways, patch management can make or break a given network security scanner solution.

It should be a mixture of automatic and manual updates from the makers of the scanner itself so that your scanner isn't outdated when it comes to keeping your site safe from the perils of the Information Superhighway.

A good network security scanning solution should always have an automatic update system reminiscent of those used in operating systems like Windows or antivirus solutions and their constantly updated virus definition.

Finally, your scanner should be great at asset inventory management, which is all about patching all offsite assets in the company at all times. Network Security Scanner.

Why Use a Network Security Scanner?

Here are the top reasons why you should use a network security scanner to bolster and double-check the safety measures you've implemented when it comes to safeguarding yourself from virtual villains and online outlaws. Every information technology admin does their best to utilize the best security barricades and safety procedures out there to safeguard and protect a corporate network from the evil hands of hackers everywhere.

The Internet serves as a blessing and a curse with its ability to make the world smaller, because it has also made it easier for crackers to penetrate through websites that are, by nature, supposed to be fully accessible to the public. 

Website Security Scanning

In this regard, the network security scanner is undoubtedly a must-have for any website.

The scanner serves as a passive version of the pen test or penetration test wherein actually hacking takes place.

Both types of software assist webmasters in identifying vulnerabilities and weaknesses in a given network while also reducing testing workload for web administrators thanks to how they automate the whole security checking process, with network security scanning checking for possible vulnerabilities and pen testing demonstrating how those vulnerabilities can be used by hackers to compromise a system just short of hacking them altogether.

In that regard, the network scanner is more passive with its job.

Discover latest vulnerabilities

Certain elements can affect security in present-day corporate online networks, and no information technology department of a company should ever put their guard down when it comes to the potential risk and hazards they face from an easy-to-access and public medium like the Internet.

Complacency equals exposure and even website death in the hands of hacker malefactors who only want to see the Worldwide Web burn, so to speak.

The consequences of failing are too great to not invest in proper network security scanners.

The best ones include regular updates on the latest reported vulnerabilities so that it could serve as your early-warning system on any and all possible exploits without going to security sites and blogs.

Cloud Security Scanning

The features that network admins must look for when it comes to quality network security scanners that are worth their salt include universal compatibility to most of the popular systems, such that you don't need to exclusively own a Mac or PC as well as avail of a certain server brand in order for it to work.

Whether the environment is virtualized (in the cloud) or physical shouldn't matter to the scanner either.

Patch management should be the primary focus of the scanner, such that it's always on top of things when it comes to patch and bug fix updates.Cloud Web Security Scanner.

  

 

SecPoint Penetrator Scanner Community

Another top of the line Network Security Scanner is the Penetrator Community that provides vulnerability scanning as well as patching for Microsoft and numerous other third party applications, like Firefox and Adobe.

It can provide patching for a maximum of 256 IPs without any charge.

Penetrator Community Network Security Scanner also provides support for vulnerabilities that might exist in mobile devices, virtualized applications, private clouds as well as servers, etc.

The Penetrator Community is able to search for network vulnerabilities, configuration issues as well as missing patches.

If you install the Penetrator Community software, you will basically just be provided with the essential patching functionality.

To install the network security scanner, you will have to install the Network Community.

Which will provide vulnerability scanning, and this is a separate component than the Penetrator Community Software.

The Security Scanner Community can be installed upon the Windows Server 2008 or any later version, and also requires the presence of .NET Framework 3.5 or higher to work.

It should also be IIS enabled, and requires Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or later version to be installed.

It should be known however that installing the Penetrator Community on Domain Servers or Small Business Servers is not a supported option.

 

Security Scanner - Vulnerability Management

A security scanner is usually employed to do port scans of remote systems. In turn, a port scan of a system enables the owner to discover which features are obtainable on a platform and whether or not these services are available through a firewall.

A good example of a popular and competent security scanner is the ever-ubiquitous Nmap Security Scanner. Naturally, a scanner of this type will deploy normally known port assignments in order to determine which of the services are operating on a linked port. For instance, if your security scanner identifies a system's TCP port 80 as exposed, it should report that the port is vulnerable for HTTP (which is the standard used for website hosting).

By default, this doesn't necessarily mean that a web server is currently executing and exploiting your system vulnerabilities; there's the possibility that the administrator merely wants to be crafty and conceal an active SSH service on TCP port 80 because he knows that a default scan won't be able to detect it.

Automated Vulnerability Security Scanners allows you to scan your local and public IPs automatically for vulnerabilities.

It is requirement in most organizations to perform daily security scans of all systems to identify new vulnerabilities.

New Vulnerabilities are discovered daily so it is important to stay on top with the latest new vulnerabilities.
 

Conducting a Service Scan Security - Vulnerability Management

In order to discern which service is truly running on any given port, a security scanner has a "service scan" feature that's responsible for extra tests and examinations against an open port, which should determine more data and details about the service operating on a particular port.Whenever a security scan is done under the service scan option, the following events should automatically happen: