Network Security First-Step, Second Edition

Security Scanners

When hackers want to breach your systems, they typically look for well-known security flaws and bugs to attack and exploit, some of the most common of which have been discussed in earlier chapters of this book. A true attack, which has the end goal of penetrating and controlling the target system, relies on the attacker gathering the most accurate and comprehensive view of an organization’s security. As attackers evaluate the network, they exploit vulnerabilities to determine precisely how to get control of valuable information assets.

Attacking vulnerabilities used to be a time-intensive procedure that required a lot of knowledge on the part of the attacker. Today, however, automated tools have changed all that. Gone are the ...