Businesses and individuals are all going online for everything. The World Wide Web is a network full of information. The same network is also filled with negative forces.
It is vital for individuals and businesses alike to remain safe and keep their digital assets safe. Thus, it is necessary for all systems we use on the internet to be safe from all possible vulnerabilities.
For that, we have tools for vulnerability scanning.
We have provided a list of top tools to scan for vulnerabilities. But first, let us know what vulnerability scanning is.
What is Vulnerability Scanning?
Hackers try to find any vulnerabilities available in a system or an application which they can use to get their means fulfilled. This results in substantial losses at times for enterprises.
To ensure that enterprises are safe and secure from any cyberattacks, it is imperative to check if the system is susceptible to attacks through possible vulnerabilities.
Vulnerability scanning tool helps to run tests and simulate attacks on the system to check for vulnerabilities. If any vulnerabilities exist, they can be fixed beforehand. Vulnerability scanning tools used, need to fulfill three essential criteria:
- They should maintain a database of all known vulnerabilities.
- They must be able to scan systems and applications for vulnerabilities.
- They must provide reports based on the tests run about known vulnerabilities and unknown exploits that it may have encountered.
13 Best Vulnerability Scanning Tools
There are numerous vulnerability scanning tools available in the marketplace to choose from. Some of the top-rated vulnerability scanning tools are as mentioned below:
IBM Security QRadar can check your system and help detect threats that your enterprise might be susceptible to.
The tool can collect data from various available sources to analyze and identify threats to the system. These sources include the Cloud, network, endpoint devices, user data, and other enterprise assets.
QRadar then runs its tests to check for threats within the system. Upon encountering one, it generates a report with the root cause, threat scope, and other insights.
This helps the enterprise security team handle the vulnerabilities and fix them before it causes an impact to the business.
AlienVault USM Anywhere helps detect threats in an enterprise system based on the Cloud, on-premise, or in a hybrid setup.
USM Anywhere is a cloud-based solution that helps manage the network's security and helps in the enterprise's compliance management. It is compatible with both AWS and Azure clouds and can easily integrate with Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware ESXi for on-premise setups.
The tool helps enterprises deploy virtual sensors on the Cloud to detect security vulnerabilities. It is available as SaaS.
With AWS gaining a lot of traction in the marketplace, Amazon launched its own vulnerability scanning tool - Amazon Inspector.
The scanning tool helps scan and improve the security of all the applications which are deployed on AWS. It has a database of all best practices.
Amazon Inspector uses the database to check for vulnerabilities or any deviations in the application. It also provides a report to the owners.
Alibaba's Website Threat Inspector (WTI) uses the available data from the system. It also makes use of machine learning to provide a complete security solution for an enterprise's domains and online assets.
It detects all available vulnerabilities and susceptibilities to ensure the network is well protected and the system is safe.
With this, enterprises can be wary of the system's safety and security and, in turn, avoid financial losses and reputation damage to brands.
Also Read: Best Threat Intelligence Use Cases
Orca Security is a turnkey solution. It helps enterprises identify malware, vulnerabilities, risky data, misconfigurations, and so on. It is available as a SaaS offering and is easily compatible with AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Orca Security checks the system for vulnerabilities directly on the Cloud by creating a read-only view of the environment.
Armor Anywhere is a vulnerability scanning and compliance regulation tool. The tool integrates with all kinds of systems: Cloud, on-premise, and hybrid. It provides web vulnerability scanning and manage compliance with the frameworks and controls.
Armor Anywhere detects vulnerabilities in the system round the clock and provides a brief report for the same.
Google Cloud Security Scanner scans the App Engine apps for common vulnerabilities available. Some of the scanned vulnerabilities include request forgeries, SQL attacks, cross-site scripting, and so on.
These vulnerabilities tend to harm web applications and compromises data. Google Cloud Security Scanner also allows to schedule scans to the network and applications. It is available as a bundle along with other Google Cloud services.
Nessus is designed to make vulnerability scanning easy and efficient, with many pre-built functionalities available out of the box.
It has been made by security professionals who understand the challenges in scanning vulnerabilities. This is why Nessus comes loaded with many features to identify vulnerabilities and help fix them quickly.
Nessus comes with numerous features. These include scanning missing patches, flaws, misconfigurations across OS and applications, malware, etc.
BurpSuite is one of the widely used tools by professionals globally across large industries as well as SMEs. It comes with advanced capabilities to find vulnerabilities in the systems and applications on the web.
Some of its features include intercepting proxy, vulnerability scanner for OWASP and XSS, intuitive dashboards, role-based controls, and so on.
Detectify Deep Scan helps monitor your applications while in production. It provides information on any vulnerabilities in them. These vulnerabilities can be fixed while in production, and hence enterprises can launch a safe product in the market.
Detectify uses the information and knowledge of the best-known ethical hackers. This has enabled them to provide a tool that is thorough in checking any application for vulnerabilities. This way, the application is well tested, and safety is not compromised.
Detectify has over 2000 vulnerabilities to match against in its database. They also have over 100 remediation tips.
Netsparker is one of the pioneers in the vulnerability scanning space with being one of the first to offer a web application vulnerability scanning solution.
It has a vast database to assess and scan for vulnerabilities in both legacy and modern applications.
Netsparker uses a proprietary method of scanning vulnerabilities in which if it encounters a vulnerability, it double-checks the same to ensure it is not a false positive. The vulnerability scanning tool is available as desktop software, SaaS, or an on-premise solution.
MBSA is free to use, provided by Microsoft to check vulnerabilities for all Windows computers.
With MBSA, enterprises can check for multiple vulnerabilities in their system. These include missing updates, malware, misconfigurations, and missing security patches, among others.
Even though MBSA has limited functionality, such as setting security updates and other allied tasks, it is still a preferred vulnerability scanning tool for the web. This is because many systems use Microsoft operating systems and applications.
MBSA provides a report of the issues after a scan and provides a few solutions and suggestions to fix the vulnerabilities.
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager has been a favorite among the professional community for a substantial time. It has some unique tools, such as one can use it to address only some specific vulnerabilities.
The mainstay of SolarWinds is the integration with National Vulnerability Database. This makes it up to date with all the latest vulnerabilities available. It is also more capable of identifying vulnerabilities in Cisco devices.
Conclusion
Apart from the vulnerability scanning tools as mentioned above, there are many more tools available that cater to enterprises' specific needs.
But, if enterprises are looking for a blanket product to meet a broad segment of vulnerabilities, they can choose among those mentioned here.
These web vulnerability scanning tools are continually adding new vulnerabilities to their databases so that your systems, networks, and applications can continue to be safe.
For all organizations, small and large, it is always recommended to invest in a good vulnerability scanning tool. It helps keep the applications and network safe and helps enterprises ensure their digital assets are protected at all times.
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