The Ultimate Vulnerability Assessment Checklist

Vulnerability assessment is the process of identifying and assessing vulnerabilities. It makes up for a significant chunk of vulnerability management, and vulnerability management relies heavily on it.

Without properly assessing vulnerabilities, your vulnerability management program might fail to meet the cyber security goals.

That’s where a vulnerability assessment checklist comes into play. As vulnerability assessment is a continuous and recurring process, a checklist can prove to be a simple solution to perfect the assessment and ensure you don’t miss out on anything critical. Implementing this checklist will be easier with a good vulnerability management tool.

A checklist gives you a bird-view of all the steps in vulnerability assessment that you should consider throughout the assessment process. Further, it also helps the IT and security teams prioritize vulnerabilities. It reduces errors, enhances efficiency, helps manage tasks, and hence increases productivity.

This checklist consists of questions you must ask yourself to gauge your organization’s security posture and how prepared you’re against cyberattacks. Moreover, It covers a wide range of typical issues that plague organizations and will give you a head start on your vulnerability assessment.

While it isn’t an exhaustive list of all the vulnerabilities in the CVE database, it provides a top-level idea of what you must consider while performing a vulnerability assessment with a vulnerability management software.

• Do you have a comprehensive inventory of all IT assets in your network?You can’t protect what you can’t see. So, a complete overview of all IT assets is critical in ensuring you don’t miss out on anything.
• Are your systems frequently tested to discover any vulnerabilities?Vulnerability assessment must be recurring and continuous to be the most effective. So frequent scans provide more coverage and depth and help keep your network out of risk.

• Do your scans discover CVEs and vulnerabilities beyond CVEs?CVEs are the bare minimum your scans must discover. But in the modern IT landscape, vulnerabilities beyond CVEs are equally dangerous. So, you must deploy scanners that discover CVEs and vulnerabilities beyond CVEs.
• Are reliable scanners and remediating tools being used to patch these vulnerabilities?Reliable tools typically have an excellent track record in vulnerability detection and remediation. Make sure you’re choosing these tools carefully after researching extensively.
• Is outdated software detected and updated or replaced regularly?Outdated software is one of the main reasons for security flaws. Ensuring the apps are updated, and End-Of-Life apps are replaced is critical.
• Does your organization have antivirus software or other virus-prevention programs? Vulnerability management and anti-virus are a one-two punch for robust security. So, an antivirus becomes necessary for cyberattack prevention, and many compliance policies mandate it too.
• Do you have a strong password policy in place? Most cyberattacks occur from weak and easily crackable passwords, which a scanner can’t detect.You must ensure a strong password policy is in place to avoid Vulnerability Assessment Checklist breaches. Do you have stringent access control in place? Sensitive data must not be accessible by everyone in the organization, so it’s key to have stringent access control in place. This helps limit exposure and also helps isolate suspects in case of a breach.
  
• Does your organization create and store regular backups?
  Backups are the saving grace in case of a ransomware attack. It helps recover data easily and also reduces downtime. You must store and update backups regularly. Are these backups stored and protected securely?Backups are critical, but so is their security, as hackers also target them. Robust protection for your network and its backups ensures breaches don’t target backups.

DOWNLOAD THE ULTIMATE VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

A vulnerability assessment checklist is the first step in formulating your vulnerability management program. And a strong foundational step can go a long way in ensuring your vulnerability management is on the right track.

Modern vulnerability management tools, like SanerNow, can completely automate your vulnerability assessment. SanerNow is an advanced vulnerability management solution that can finally answer all your vulnerability assessment and management problems.

With the right tools, correct procedures, and continuous surveillance, you can additionally create a virtual shield of defense around your network to prevent and combat cyberattacks.