Automate Vulnerability Scanning to a Daily Routine!

Organizations and individuals mainly rely on technology for various aspects of their daily lives. As cyber threats are expanding, organizations must constantly stay alert to protect their digital assets and data. Vulnerability scanning is the process of going through your IT infrastructure to detect vulnerabilities and identify weaknesses or security flaws in your system.

A Vulnerability scanning tool is used to scan for vulnerabilities. But do you scan for vulnerabilities daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly? Did you know that an average of 25,000 vulnerabilities are being discovered yearly, and before you can fix it, boom! Another few thousand vulnerabilities are being discovered.

Keep reading to learn more about daily vulnerability scanning and how to automate it by using an automated vulnerability scanning tool.

Scanning for vulns lets you take a bold approach to maintain a strong security of your company’s infrastructure. Data breaches or cyber-attacks often happen due to unpatched vulnerabilities or neglecting to scan for vulnerabilities. After identifying known vulns through automated scanning, an organization can boldly address each loophole by fixing vulns, closing risky ports, correcting misconfigurations, and more.

In the past, vulnerability scanning was a periodic and manual process, leaving organizations vulnerable between scans. However, with the rapid pace of software development and the emergence of new vulnerabilities, the manual approach is no longer efficient. That’s where daily automated vulnerability scanning comes into play.

Vulnerability scanning is a crucial part of your security team’s overall IT risk management for many reasons.

• Scanning for vulnerabilities daily helps you maintain substantial security in your company and closes any gaps of missing vulnerabilities.
• Organizations should follow cybersecurity compliance and regulations. For instance, NIST, PCI DSS, and HIPAA focus on daily vulnerability scanning to avoid data loss and protect sensitive data.
• Cyber attackers always stay one step ahead of us and plan to attack quickly, that’s why it is important to scan for vulnerabilities every day to keep your systems up to date and make it difficult for them to get through.

To fully incorporate vulnerability scanning, you need to implement it daily. Here are some steps how to do so:

• Choose the right tool: Select a vulnerability scanning tool that is easy to use, has a user-friendly interface, and can be used to run daily, weekly, or monthly scans. Some scanners also make it possible to perform continuous scans that run all the time all day.
• Define scanning parameters: Configure the scans to carry out scans at set intervals automatically. Using the scanner to scan all assets, including servers, work areas, and network devices, ensures that vulnerabilities are detected and fixed in a timely manner.
• Regular updates: Keep the vulnerability scanner updated with the latest security patches and software updates. This will ensure that the scanner is able to detect the latest risks and threats.
• Reporting: Monitoring the results of the vulnerability scans and generate reports to track progress. This will help to ensure that vulnerabilities are being addressed in a timely and effective manner. Reports should include risk ratings and vulnerability scoring that allow you to prioritize which vulnerabilities to address first.
• Patch management: Implement a patch management process to ensure that vulnerabilities are fixed in a timely manner. This also includes fixing and disabling vulnerable services.
• Continuous education: Provide regular training and education to employees on the importance of vulnerability scanning and how to respond to detected vulnerabilities and threats. This will help to ensure that everyone in the organization is aware of the risks and how to remove them.
• Regular testing: Regularly test the vulnerability scanner to ensure that it is working correctly and finding risks as expected. This protects the organization against cyber threats.

In conclusion, using automated vulnerability scanning into your daily routine is a bold and essential step in making sure your digital assets and data are safe. By consistently finding and fixing risks, you not only enhance your company’s security but also reduce the risk of potential attacks and data losses. Also, automating this process reduces the tasks for your IT and security teams.