The Security Report is a monthly publication that provides an in depth analysis of the techniques and tools that a hacker could use to compromise our customers’ computer systems. It also presents practices and procedures our customers can use to secure and protect their systems from attacks. Each Security Report covers one major security issue in detail.

Introduction:

Vulnerability scanners are a class of tool that allow you or an attacker to quickly scan a remote host by checking for known vulnerabilities, exploits or server misconfigurations. Often called a ‘hacker-in-a-box' these tools represent an efficient mechanism for quickly learning about a large number of potential vulnerabilities on a target server. Most vulnerabilities are discovered by a challenge-response system, where the vulnerability scanner sends a message to the remote server and listens for a response. In the case of web application vulnerabilities the scanner generally searches for errors within the server-side application which might allow an attacker to gain access or deface the website. Web application vulnerability scanners are generally limited to http requests, while server vulnerability scanners test every port, service and vulnerability on a server. Often a server vulnerability scanner can scan a range of IP addresses broadening the number of vulnerabilities found. Through the course of this report we will make a distinction between web scanners and server scanners. Web scanners are tools focused on web applications and the web server code running behind them. Server scanners are tools focused on the general makeup of a server including machine configuration, running services, open ports, operating system vulnerabilities, and any other vulnerable applications running. It is best to think of web scanners as a specialization of the more general server scanner.

Vulnerability scanners are a very popular first attack on a server. Hackers use these scanners because they are easy to deploy, easily scriptable, and can reveal hundreds of possible vulnerabilities within hours.

Vulnerability scanners can discover a large amount of information about a server, especially if that server is misconfigured or poorly secured by the server administrator.

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Provided by: Security Innovation, The Application Security Company