| Background.
Vulnerability Scanning occurs when an attacker
systematically probes a host for vulnerable and/or exploitable
resources, services and/or processes.
There are a variety of tools to help administrators and/or
attackers to assess system vulnerabilities.
- Nmap - a port scanner
- sends packets to a host
- generates a list of services the
host is running
- returns the OS type
- knowing these sorts of things help
an attacker know what sorts of attacks will be likelier
to work
- Nessus - more sophisticated than Nmap
- scans for multiple types of
architectures
- generates a list of
vulnerabilities using a list of known attack types
- details services and which are
more exploitable
- offers suggestions on how to
improve the security of your system
- available as freeware at
www.nessus.org
- Security Baseline Advisor - Microsoft
More will be added. |