A vulnerability assessment is a tool utilized within a risk management framework to scan for all potential vulnerabilities or threats within a business’ information systems (IS) to rank and categorize by severity and impact to mission-critical operations. Vulnerability assessments may be used for different targeted industries, including:

• Defense Contractors
• Manufacturers
• Energy/utility companies
• Aviation
• Transportation industry
• Banks
• Hospitals
• Communications/ISPs

The goals of a successful vulnerability assessment may differ depending on the system assessed and industry of that customer. For a physical presence of an industry like a utility company such as power and water, identified vulnerabilities may be elements that could disrupt services to customers or damage facilities, like natural disasters, physical tampering, and terrorist attacks. However, for an information system like a website with online databases, may require an assessment of its vulnerability to cyber threats and other forms of cyberattack. A physical data center location may additionally require an assessment of both the physical and computer system vulnerabilities because it requires both security for its physical location and for its online resources.

Every business, no matter your industry, should conduct a yearly (and sometimes quarterly) vulnerability assessment as a test to verify that the security policies written and implemented by your business are effective. It is important to note that any companies within the category of industries listed above should consider periodic and proactive vulnerability assessments in CONJUNCTION with yearly Penetration Scans to reveal new threats and vulnerabilities that emerge Before you are compromised.

A pro-active Vulnerability Assessment will ensure that you are actively testing and tightening your Systems Security Plan, whether you need it for DFARS 7012, ITAR, GDPR, HIPAA or any other industry-required compliance best practices.  This will keep you on top of, and ahead of the threat landscape.

The primary objectives of a Techni-Core vulnerability assessment are to:

After performing a comprehensive Vulnerability Assessment, Techni-Core will provide a comprehensive document to detail all vulnerabilities found within the scanning parameters designed with the customer (including time, physical, digital, social engineering, etc) and provide full consultation for remediation phases as well as the pro-active steps to take to retain the full benefits of the remediation phase of your vulnerability assessment into a lifecycle management and periodic yearly audit, which we highly recommend for all industries!