270 ◾ The Security Risk Assessment Handbook
© 2011 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
7.2.5.7.2 Vulnerability Scanning Tools
e availability and power of vulnerability scanning tools has increased tremen-
dously over the past few years. ese tools have automated tasks previously per-
formed manually and have increased the level of rigor and the depth of analysis
commonly performed in security testing. In the past, security testing activities
would include manual procedures or proprietary scripts to look for commonly
known (called “obvious”) vulnerabilities in many protocols, operating systems, and
applications. Many vulnerability scanning tools have advanced and continue to
advance by incorporating these procedures and scripts ...