What are the best practices for conducting vulnerability scans without disrupting your network operations?

To initiate a vulnerability scan and analysis, begin by carefully choosing tools aligned with your requirements and environment. Consider the diverse options, including network, web application, database, and host-based scanners. Opt for tools that match the scope and depth of your assessment, ensuring compatibility with your network architecture and devices. Prioritize selections with regular updates, thorough reports, and dependable support for a robust vulnerability management approach.

Running vulnerability scans is an essential part of keeping your network secure. The following best practices should be taken into consideration to make sure the scans are completed successfully and don't interfere with network operations: selecting the appropriate tools, organizing and scheduling the scan, configuring and executing the scan, evaluating and ranking the results, fixing and validating your vulnerabilities, continuously carry out monitoring and document the process.

Planning and scheduling vulnerability scans is essential to avoid disrupting network operations. Consider the frequency, timing, duration, and scope of your scan, and its potential impact on performance and availability. Communicate with stakeholders, including network administrators, system owners, and users, about the scan's purpose and expectations, informing them of any possible disruptions or downtime. In my experience, conducting scans during off-peak hours minimizes impact. For instance, scheduling scans late at night for a client reduced interference with daily operations, leading to a smoother process and better stakeholder satisfaction.

Subsequently, strategically plan and schedule your scan in advance to prevent any disruptions to network operations and business activities. Deliberate on factors like frequency, timing, duration, and scan scope, taking into account potential impacts on network performance and availability. Communication with stakeholders, including network administrators, system owners, and users, is crucial. Clearly articulate the purpose and expectations of the scan, informing them of any anticipated disruptions or downtime to ensure a coordinated and informed approach.

Proceed by configuring and executing your scan in alignment with your predefined plan and objectives. Define parameters like target IP addresses, ports, services, credentials, or specific vulnerabilities to investigate. Select the suitable scan mode—full, incremental, or differential—based on the desired level of detail and completeness. Monitor the scan's progress and status closely, promptly addressing any encountered issues or errors by either stopping or pausing the scan to ensure accurate and reliable results.

Check with the scanning solution on the types of scanning modes. If some cases, scans can take your hosts down! Be sure to know the settings and what impact they could have on your environment.

Upon completion of the scan, meticulously analyze and prioritize the results. Review the generated reports and data, identifying vulnerabilities that pose the highest risk to your network and systems. Validate the accuracy and validity of findings, eliminating false positives or duplicates. Prioritize vulnerabilities considering severity, exploitability, impact, and urgency. Assign remediation responsibilities to the relevant parties, ensuring a focused and effective approach to addressing the identified security issues.

Another essential factor to consider when prioritizing vulnerabilities is the risk tolerance level of the information system owner (organization). Risk tolerance levels can vary depending on compliance regulations levied on an organization, as is the case in the aerospace and defense sector, or system availability; if remediating a vulnerability results in unacceptable downtime, it may be reprioritized.

Conclude the process by remedying and verifying vulnerabilities in line with established priorities and available resources. Implement suitable actions and solutions, such as applying patches, updates, configurations, or installing security measures like firewalls, antivirus, or encryption. Document and track the status and outcomes of remediation efforts, ensuring the resolution or reduction of vulnerabilities. Conduct a follow-up scan to confirm the absence of new or resurfaced vulnerabilities, completing a comprehensive and effective vulnerability management cycle.

Suppose vulnerabilities cannot be resolved or reduced. In that case, you want to create a plan of action and milestones (POA&M) to address these issues at a later date and define the appropriate resources and milestones to mitigate, whether new hardware/software is required or scheduling time with the relevant stakeholders to avoid critical disruptions to operations (availability).