Penetration Testing: Protecting Networks and Systems

CHAPTER 5: VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS

This section is one of the most important areas of concern for the systems, network and database administrators – as well as for the pen tester. Vulnerability assessment is the careful, thorough and diligent review of the target system from all angles and attack vectors. It is through a complete and comprehensive vulnerability assessment (VA) that all the possible means of attack are explored and, from this, the tester will be able to identify all potential attack vectors, potential weaknesses and possible entry points. A pen test without a comprehensive VA is incomplete and will often lead to a false sense of security. The vulnerability assessment will provide invaluable information for the administrators ...