What is Network Vulnerability Scanning? The Complete Guide

Network vulnerability scanning is a cybersecurity practice that seeks out and reports any weaknesses in network systems, applications, devices, and infrastructure. It helps organizations to spot hidden flaws before bad actors can exploit them.

VikingCloud always recommends network vulnerability scanning as your first point of insight into misconfigurations, human oversights, and outdated programming that could lead to hacking, data theft, loss of revenue, and compliance violations.

Let’s explore how network scanning works in practice, and how it can support your broader cybersecurity process.

How Network Scanning Works

Network scanning is an automated process that maps out networks and their devices, systems, and connections, gathering information on ports and internal configurations, and analyzing any potential flaws in line with a vulnerability database. Scanners then report back to users on any concerning discoveries, often with advice on best practices for remediation. Users should then apply recommendations and re-test regularly.

Let’s dive into this process in a little more detail:

1. Start by identifying areas of your network you want to scan, and the goals you want to achieve. For example, you may scan devices such as routers, laptops, and printers for outdated firmware or configurations.
2. Configure a vulnerability scanning tool to cover the areas you wish to investigate, selecting types of weaknesses to focus on, and setting schedules to automate the process. You may also need to set rules for certain applications and to allow permissions for sensitive access.
3. Run the scanning tool(s) and wait for reports. In your reports, check for problems that the tool(s) indicate need priority attention. For example, your report might suggest updating your firewall with immediate effect.
4. As part of your wider cybersecurity process, take steps to remediate the problems raised, and if more insight is required, schedule penetration testing for human-driven exploitation of your systems.
5. Be sure to regularly scan the same areas and your broader infrastructure for vulnerabilities to keep up to speed with emerging threats.

At VikingCloud, we work with our clients to choose the most appropriate vulnerability scanning testing types and to help create a sustainable, automated process. However, it’s important to remember that vulnerability scanning shouldn’t make up the entirety of your cybersecurity process. Vulnerability identification is just the start and the objective is to prioritize and fix issues on an ongoing basis.

Types of Network Vulnerability Scans

Network vulnerability scanning can be split into four main types—active, passive, credentialed, and authenticated. You can also scan network vulnerabilities from internal and external perspectives.

Each scanning type gives slightly different perspectives on your network security, so it’s wise to consider a blend to cover as many bases as possible.

Active Scanning

Active vulnerability scanning involves directly investigating networked systems and devices to explore potential weaknesses. This type of scanning gives in-depth details about how networked devices and infrastructures are configured.

However, one drawback of active network scanning is that it can be resource-intensive, costly, and performance-sapping.

Passive Scanning

Passive network vulnerability scanning monitors network activity as a background operation. Considered the inverse of active scanning, passive scans are much less intensive and intrusive, meaning they frequently run while operations can safely continue without interruption.

That said, what passive scanning saves on performance, it holds back on insights—it can potentially miss deeper issues and cannot be relied upon for a complete risk analysis. Therefore, we always recommend our clients run both active and passive scans, alongside penetration tests, for detailed network insights.

Credentialed Scanning

Credentialed or authenticated network vulnerability scans rely on administrative access control. That means only scanners or users with passwords and permissions can access the most sensitive data and systems on a network, to carry out more intensive reconnaissance and research.

Credentialed scanning is an internal approach to network cybersecurity research, in that it’s typically used to analyze weaknesses that can be exploited once attackers gain access to networks, or those that internal bad actors can take advantage of.

Unauthenticated Scanning

Unauthenticated network vulnerability scanning doesn’t need access credentials and therefore operates from a hacker’s perspective. Unauthenticated scanning is an external approach to network cybersecurity, in that it accounts for common exploitable points such as firewall weaknesses, open ports, and areas vulnerable to code injection.

Unauthenticated scans are less comprehensive than credentialed scans, but can give users insight into how outside attackers see their security postures.

What Vulnerabilities Are Commonly Detected?

Network vulnerability scanning can detect common issues such as weak passwords, lack of multi-factor authentication, open ports, internal misconfigurations, and poor data encryption. Ultimately, vulnerability scanning reveals network weaknesses that aren’t easy to detect with the naked eye.

Scanning can spot areas of weakness such as:

• Weak passwords and access controls
• Single-factor authentication
• Poor data encryption standards
• Outdated software and patching
• Inefficient or confusing segmentation of systems and devices
• Poorly-secured devices and default configurations
• Unauthenticated devices

Network scanning may also prove useful in web application threat detection, such as by considering areas in public-facing code that may be weak to cross-site scripting (XSS) or SQL injections.

Compliance Benefits of Vulnerability Scanning

Network vulnerability scanning supports companies that must adhere to data protection policies to avoid consumer cybercrime, fines, and reputational damage. It gives insights into how their data is managed and processed, therefore raising warnings if their security is easily compromised, and giving advice on how to reduce the likelihood of data breaches and hacking.

The insights users get from vulnerability scanning help them to understand how their data could be intercepted and stolen, across their entire network infrastructure. For example, merchants who need to adhere to PCI DSS compliance can prove they are taking adequate measures to protect cardholder information by checking access control strength and analyzing the connections between data storage units.

Automating vulnerability scanning also ensures businesses are always up to speed with weaknesses in their networks and data storage that may arise over time, such as through software obsolescence. Therefore, users can take immediate steps to remedy weaknesses and avoid breaching compliance expectations through negligence.

Best Practices for Effective Scanning

Some of the best practices for highly effective network vulnerability scanning include keeping an up-to-date device and asset inventory, running regular scans, balancing scans with penetration tests, blending scan types, running scans during off-peak periods, and following cybersecurity frameworks such as NIST and ISO 27001:

“ISO/IEC 27001 promotes a holistic approach to information security: vetting people, policies, and technology. An information security management system implemented according to this standard is a tool for risk management, cyber-resilience, and operational excellence.”

ISO

Let’s explore these practices in a little more detail.

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We also recommend using a range of different tools for network scanning for the most comprehensive reports and advice. For example, open source tools such as NMAP, which efficiently scans large networks, and Wireshark, which supports detailed traffic analysis, are both popularly used by cybersecurity experts.

On the surface, network vulnerability scanning may seem complex to schedule and manage—however, with the support of cybersecurity experts, you always have proactive help on hand to keep your network and all its devices robust against evolving cyber threats.

Learn more about how VikingCloud can help you tighten up your network security with vulnerability scanning services today.