Cyber Defense eMagazine February Edition for 2023

Old vulnerabilities are not being detected.
Cyber Security Works found that between 2007 and 2021, scanners have not been detecting 68
vulnerabilities. Of that group, 58 are old weaknesses. By comparing them to a database of known
vulnerabilities, scanners are made to find weaknesses within a target. These well-known scanners
continue to use obsolete datasets despite several CISA warnings, exposing crucial assets.
Threat actors can easily benefit from these false-negative scanner results and the lengthy vulnerability
disclosure schedule by finding exploits, eventually resulting in ransomware attacks against organizations
and critical infrastructure.
Taking a new approach: Risk-Based Vulnerability Management
It is insufficient to rely on outdated detection and response tools, and successful tools should be
measured by test methodology and how frequently its detection algorithm is updated. Organizations that
use antiquated scanner systems are particularly at risk from ransomware attacks. Rather than solely
relying on the results and severity ratings of scanners, we advise scanner users to adopt a threat- and
risk-based strategy.
Risk-Based Vulnerability Management aims to identify and remediate vulnerabilities that pose the
greatest risk to an organization. Using this approach provides organizations with three surefire benefits.
Quicker Decisions - By utilizing threat intelligence and threat-hunting tools, organizations can counter
threat actors by making quicker, more educated, and data-driven security decisions. As a result, IT staff
can take a more proactive approach to concentrate their time and resources on their environment's most
pressing risks.
Greater Visibility - Risk-based vulnerability management ensures that all assets are visible across the
entire attack surface. This includes contemporary assets frequently not supported by legacy tools such
as mobile devices and cloud-based applications.
Team and System Alignment - It is crucial to maintain team and system alignment through project
objectives and results; particularly when the highly sensitive security of an organization is involved.
Vulnerability management seeks to specify processes and procedures for locating, prioritizing, and
remediating vulnerabilities to preserve security alignment.
A vulnerability scanner's dependability is defined by its testing techniques and how frequently its crawling
algorithm is updated. Users are unaware they are exposed to cyber assaults utilizing hidden flaws since
well-known scanners like Nessus, Nexpose, and Qualys can miss significant vulnerabilities.
Organizations need to be aware of their asset inventory, including hardware, software, infrastructure,
and third-party services. A security strategy utilizing continuous vulnerability scanning (VMaaS), Attack
Surface Management (ASM), and Vulnerability Intelligence (VI) is needed to provide timely, contextual,
and actionable insights for remediation.
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