por Do you know what a vulnerability scan is and what is its difference with the pentesting? In cybersecurity, it is necessary to verify What computer failures does a system have?since the hackers Malicious actors can take advantage of them to harm an organization.
There are different ways to find these errors and, in this post, we will explain what is a vulnerability scan.
What is a vulnerability scan?
A vulnerability scan is a process by which security flaws are detected in a system or a software. It is recommended to do them periodically (even daily) to monitor the threats present in the system. Vulnerability scanning (scanning in cyber security) is often confused with penetration testing, but both are different processes.
He pentesting It is a procedure carried out by a professional, in order to find, exploit and report all security flaws in the system. A vulnerability scanner is just a tool that allows you to find this type of flaws in operating systems, programs and applications, it also allows you to analyze web vulnerabilities, without exercising other phases that human beings do apply in a penetration test.
Tools for vulnerability scanning
Vulnerability scanning is one of the phases of pentesting. Therefore, when making hacking ethical, we must have the appropriate tools to find all the security flaws in a system. If we overlook any of them, there is a risk that a hacker malicious use it.
We have already seen what a vulnerability scan is and its difference with a pentest. Now, we will teach you some useful tools for this function. However, remember to use them only with the permission of the system owners or, for example, in a HackTheBox exercise or within the frameworks established by a Bug Bounty program.
OpenVAS: it is a tool open source or open source that allows vulnerability scanning and reporting of all vulnerabilities in a system.
Nessus: It is a payment tool that has become very popular, since it automates the scanning phase of a pentesting and, although it does not replace the process in its entirety, it offers complete and organized information on a regular basis.
WPScan– This tool specializes in scanning for vulnerabilities of web applications developed in WordPress.
Nikto– is a web page vulnerability scanner, which is open source and, in fact, comes included with your Kali Linux operating system.
nmap: It is the best known scanner of all. Nmap was created in 1997 and has since become an industry standard due to its ability to detect open ports and their respective vulnerabilities.
What is pentesting?
Now that you know what a cybersecurity vulnerability scan is, we will talk about what is a pentest.
He pentesting either hacking ethical It is a practice that is used in cybersecurity in order to test the security of a computer system. It covers the phases of:
Recognition either information gathering: gather all the information that is exposed about the target system.
Vulnerability scanning: identify existing security flaws using tools like the previous ones.
Gaining access: use exploits to infiltrate the computer system.
Access maintenance: set persistence and run the payloadthat is, the set of malicious actions that the hacker black hat could carry out. It is done in a controlled manner and preventing any damage.
Covering footprints– Remove all digital evidence that the system has been investigated, exploited and infected, as this is often the case in real attacks.
Preparation of the report: write and clearly communicate the findings of the pentesting. This is one of the most common tasks from a cybersecurity expert, since this information is very valuable for creating defense systems.
How to learn more?
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