Vulnerability Scanning System

Introduction

A vulnerability scanner is the name given to the program which is specifically designed for accessing computers, applications, computer systems or networks for weaknesses. There are several types of vulnerability scanners today that are different in their characteristics and are designed for their specific targets. Different types of vulnerability scanners have different functions but the common thing among them is that they are designed for the purpose of eliminating vulnerabilities present in systems and networks. Vulnerability scanners are considered as the main technology component of vulnerability management (Vieira, Antunes, Madeira, 2009).

Discussion

Usability of Vulnerability Scanner

The usability of a vulnerability scanner is based on the conduction of network reconnaissance which is generally performed by a remote attacker which attempts to gain access or information on which it is not allowed or authorized. The use of network reconnaissance has increased in order to exploit automated communication methods and networks standards. The main objective is to identify the types of computer that are present along with the additional information related to those computer systems like version and type of the computer (Scott, and Sharp, 2002).

For recently discovered or known vulnerabilities, information can be analyzed that can be damaged in order to gain the access to secure computers and networks. One of the most common applications of passive data analysis is network reconnaissance. There are some issues with the early generation techniques that make the function ineffective. These techniques include TCP/IP passive fingerprinting. Currently, there are a number of effective tools present that have made reconnaissance effective and easier. Vulnerability scanners are useful tools for system and network administrators, enabling them to monitor the safety of all the teams that are in charge (Vieira, Antunes, Madeira, 2009).

Vulnerability scanners are useful tools for system and network administrators to monitor the security of computer equipment which they are responsible. In contrast, this tool is sometimes used by hackers to identify gaps in the system. Vulnerability scanner is a program for making a safety check on a network by analyzing the ports open on one of the teams or the entire network. The analysis process uses probes (applications) for determining the services that are running on a remote host. This tool allows identifying security risks. Generally, with this type of tool can perform an analysis of a series or list of IP addresses in order to conduct a complete verification of a network (Balzarotti, Cova, Felmetsger, Vigna, 2007).

A vulnerability scanner is able to determine open ports on a system by sending successive queries on different ports and analyzes the responses to determine which ones are active. By analyzing the structure of finely packet TCP / IP received advanced security scanners are sometimes able to determine the operating system of the remote and the versions associated with ports and applications, if any machine advise necessary updates, hence the term characterization version. Through a comprehensive analysis of the structure of the packets TCP / IP received advanced security scanners can identify, sometimes, what operating system you are using the ...