Vulnerability Management
Let us Build, Implement & Manage Your Vulnerability Management Program!
Everyday, new vulnerabilities are discovered – having a well defined vulnerability management process is crucial to protecting your company against cyber attacks.
Lark Security’s vulnerability management programs seek out known vulnerabilities, and exploitable weaknesses or misconfigurations in your network, systems, applications and processes to determine your organizational risk.
Vulnerability management refers to the essential practice of identifying, remediating and reporting on information security vulnerabilities across the entire organization. By identifying vulnerabilities, organizations can implement vulnerability remediation plans that prioritize threats and minimize the risk of a cyber attack.
A key component of any vulnerability management system is the use of vulnerability management tools or vulnerability management software such as a vulnerability scanner to help automate the process and provide more accuracy.This allows you to scan systems, networks and applications for vulnerabilities as well as other internal systems to expose threats and identify false positive vulnerabilities. This information is then used to evaluate vulnerabilities in accordance with the company’s risk management strategy.
Most vulnerability management solutions also provide risk rating and scores to help companies ascertain which vulnerabilities need to be addressed first. There are 3 possibilities that a company can take to address the vulnerabilities that are found – they can remediate (fix the problem), mitigate (reduce impact if the problem were to happen) or accept the risk (usually justifiable if the risk is very low). Once remediation is complete, it is best practice to run another vulnerability scan to confirm all issues have been resolved and regularly complete vulnerability assessment to remain secure and compliant.
FREE RESOURCES
Available for download!
There are 4 types of vulnerability scanning:
Internal Vulnerability Scanning
Identifies weaknesses within your internal network (including other hosts on that network) and takes the perspective of an attacker who is inside your network.
External Vulnerability Scanning
Identifies weaknesses in your infrastructure and scans your external network for known vulnerabilities. This scan takes the perspective of an attacker who is outside your network.
Host Agent or Credentialed Vulnerability Scanning
Identifies vulnerabilities in installed software, and services on a system by using an agent installed on the host or by remotely accessing the system using a credential.
API Vulnerability Scanning
Identifies insecure or high risk configurations in public or private cloud infrastructure such as AWS, Azure or OpenStack.
Benefits of a Continuous Vulnerability Assessment
Regular vulnerability assessments allow organizations to stay on top of their security programs. There are many benefits to conducting regular vulnerability assessment, including:
Preventing a cyber attack that could cause a data breach, damage your network, affect operations, destroy company reputation and lead to data breach fines.
Developing an accurate understanding of how effective your risk management program works.
Identifying risk accurately, consistently and in a timely manner.
Improving information security programs by staying ahead of threats.
Meeting the objectives of regulatory compliance requirements and other business stakeholders.
Budgeting and justifying cost for security activities
Lark Security Vulnerability Management Experts will help you:
Develop your comprehensive Vulnerability Management Program
Conduct your vulnerability scanning
Evaluate each risk against defined risk criteria
Provide remediation Support to mitigate risk.
Provide final Vulnerability Scan Report as required by business stakeholders and for cybersecurity audits.
Lark Security Vulnerability Management Process
Lark Security helps organizations build and implement repeatable Cybersecurity Vulnerability Management programs.
When reviewing your network for vulnerabilities, we conduct a thorough assessment to determine if any known vulnerabilities exist or unpatched systems that could be susceptible to cyber attacks exist.
Our vulnerability management methodology is tailored to meet the requirements and information security objectives of our clients.
Lark Security Vulnerability Assessment Steps
1. Ongoing Vulnerability Assessment Planning
We begin by understanding your business and your security and compliance requirements before building out your Vulnerability Management System which includes your Vulnerability Assessment Plan and a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
We run multiple assessments regularly to update this plan where needed and measure effectiveness.
2. Vulnerability Scanning
During this phase we properly configure your vulnerability scans then we scan your network, identify open ports, evaluate system information and correlate information with known vulnerabilities.
We also configure your automated scans using the latest tools and techniques to streamline the scans based on changes to your network.
3. Vulnerability Evaluation and Remediation
In this phase we reference the company’s risk management strategy and the CVSS to identify false positive vulnerabilities, validate vulnerabilities and evaluate the risk. We then work with you to address each of the vulnerabilities for remediation, mitigation or acceptance; before running another scan to confirm resolution.
4. Vulnerability Management Policy & Procedures
We will develop, review and improve your vulnerability management policies and procedures to address known vulnerabilities, simplify implementation and (if needed) comply with regulatory standards as required for:
– NIST Vulnerability Management
– PCI Vulnerability Scans
– HIPAA Vulnerability Scans
– SSAE 16 SOC 2 Vulnerability Scans
– FedRAMP Vulnerability Scan
5. Reporting
The steps taken across this entire assessment, the scan results and all remediation activities are documented and can be referenced to improve the program anytime. Additionally, the final delivery of the assessment is a Vulnerability Scan Report as required by business stakeholders and for cybersecurity audit. Typically, internal and external vulnerability scans are completed quarterly.
FAQs
What is Vulnerability Management?
Vulnerability management refers to the essential practice of identifying, remediating and reporting on information security vulnerabilities across the entire organization. By identifying vulnerabilities, organizations can implement vulnerability remediation plans that prioritize threats and minimize the risk of a cyber attack.
What is the definition of vulnerability?
In information security, a vulnerability refers to a possible weakness within an organization’s security architecture. These weaknesses put the organization at risk of a cyberattack.
What is Vulnerability Scanning?
Vulnerability scanning is one of the most effective ways to calculate how an outsider might gain access to your environment. Vulnerability scans use technology for automation as well as testing and reporting on known vulnerabilities. Vulnerability scanning allows you to locate weaknesses across all your systems and processes then prioritize and address them.
Vulnerability scanning vs penetration testing?
Vulnerability scans are typically done quarterly, use technology and are automated, however penetration testing is done annually, completed by a security expert and is more comprehensive.
How to perform internal vulnerability scan?
Internal vulnerability scans identify weaknesses within your internal network (including other hosts on that network) and take the perspective of an attacker who is inside your network. Partner with a vulnerability management expert like Lark Security to complete your vulnerability scans.
Credentialed vs non-credentialed vulnerability scan?
Non-credentialed vulnerability scans provide a high level observation of vulnerabilities exposed by the network. These scans do not require trust access into the system for scanning. On the other hand, credentialed vulnerability scans are more thorough in exposing vulnerabilities within the network after the user has gained trusted access.
What is an external vulnerability scan?
External Vulnerability Scans identify weaknesses in your infrastructure - they scan your external network for known vulnerabilities. This scan takes the perspective of an attacker who is outside your network.
How many people you need to run a vulnerability management program?
This depends on your organization and the maturity of your cyber security program. We can identify and understand the vulnerability management process most suited to your organization.
What is the vulnerability management life cycle?
The vulnerability management lifecycle is made up of 6 crucial steps that begin with developing an inventory of all network assets then scanning and assessing the identified risk before reporting, remediating and verifying findings. Download the FREE Lark Security vulnerability management life cycle.
Can vulnerability management be done remotely?
Yes - smart technology allows us to complete your vulnerability management assessments remotely.
About Lark Security
Lark Security is the leading provider of Cybersecurity Audit Readiness Solutions. The company is dedicated to helping organizations build, improve and manage resilient cybersecurity programs that guard sensitive data, comply with industry regulations and provide competitive advantage. Lark Security is recognized as a trusted and experienced advisor for audit readiness solutions to comply with HITRUST, PCI DSS, SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, HIPAA, CMMC, ISO 27001, NIST and FedRAMP.
Email – info@lark-security.com
Phone – (303) 800-1872