Practical Vulnerability Management

INTRODUCTION

It s human nature to pay attention to the problems that are big and flashy, attracting lots of interest, such as advanced persistent threat (APT) groups state-sponsored attackers. APT-linked attackers have compromised major retailers, financial institutions, and even government networks. But when we focus all of our attention on APTs and other headline-generating activity, we miss basic issues. Even though you have new firewalls protecting your system and powerful traffic-monitoring devices, if you don t keep up with the bread and butter of your security responsibilities, you re leaving many chinks in your system s armor. Neglecting the basics, like keeping your systems updated, can lead to serious consequences.

Consider this example: suppose you re an information security manager at a medium-sized e-commerce business. You ve set up firewalls to block incoming traffic except for traffic to internet-facing services on systems in your demilitarized zone (DMZ). You ve turned on egress filtering to block unauthorized exit traffic. An antivirus is on the endpoints, and you ve hardened your servers. You believe your system is safe. 

But an old web service is running on an outdated version of Tomcat on a Linux server in the DMZ. It s a relic from an ill-advised foray into selling some of your company s valuable proprietary data to selected business partners. The initiative failed, but because you made some sales, you had a contractual obligation to keep that server up for another year. At the end of the year, the project was quietly shuttered, but the server is still running. Everyone has forgotten about it. But someone on the outside notices it. An attack comes in from a compromised server in Moldova, and your unpatched Tomcat server is vulnerable to a five-year-old Java issue. Now the attacker has a foothold in your network, and all your protections couldn t stop it. Where did you fail?

This guide demonstrates the value of strong

Introduction

Part I: Vulnerability Management Basics
Chapter 1: Basic Concepts
Chapter 2: Sources of Information
Chapter 3: Vulnerability Scanners
Chapter 4: Automating Vulnerability Management
Chapter 5: Vulnerability Management Outcomes
Chapter 6: Vulnerability Management and Organizational Priorities

Part II: Hands-on Vulnerability Management
Chapter 7: Setting Up Your Environment
Chapter 8: Using the Data Collection Tools
Chapter 9: Getting Your Data into Usable Format
Chapter 10: Maintaining the Database
Chapter 11: Generating Asset and Vulnerability Reports
Chapter 12: Automating Scans and Reporting
Chapter 13: Advanced Reporting
Chapter 14: Advanced Topics
Chapter 15. Conclusion
Index

Andrew Magnusson

"An easy read and offers comprehensive solutions to keeping an organization secure and always prepared for possible attacks." 
Helga Labus, Help Net Security