Vulnerability assessments are among the most fundamental of all cybersecurity functions; no cybersecurity plan is complete without one. But not all vulnerability assessments are created equal when it comes to identifying real and potential vulnerabilities that exist inside and outside of a firm’s network.
The fact is, too many companies continue to invite unnecessary risk when they rely on outdated vulnerability assessment tools that aren’t built to run in modern hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Let’s take a closer look at this challenge, and how the right MSP can help implement and manage a more advanced approach to vulnerability assessment designed to secure even today’s most complex, hybrid cloud architectures.
Vulnerability Assessments Need to Evolve with the Cloud
The best way to see how vulnerability assessments have evolved over the years is through the lens of how cloud computing has evolved. The cloud transformed the enterprise IT landscape from a finite set of on-prem assets, to an infinite array of scalable, interconnected cloud resources. This evolution necessitates a fundamental shift in how vulnerability assessments are designed and carried out in today’s vast and dynamic cloud environments.
In the old days of centralized infrastructure, a typical vulnerability assessment was a fairly straightforward blend of server, endpoint and network scanning. Fast forward to today and we see that cloud environments have dramatically increased the range of vulnerabilities far beyond what traditional scans can pick up. These include misconfigurations in authentication protocols, data storage packets and other cloud assets. And the vulnerability scanning landscape is further complicated by the post-pandemic increase in remote work connectivity and BYOD devices.
Without a modern, cloud-based approach to vulnerability assessment, organizations can miss crucial software vulnerabilities, configuration errors, weak passwords and more. This poor visibility leads to more security incidents and operational downtime – breakdowns that degrade your organization’s revenue streams, compliance posture and reputation with customers and investors.
Stronger Vulnerability Assessments with the Help of an MSP
Fortunately, the right MSP can help evolve your organization’s approach to vulnerability assessments to meet the tough demands of a modern enterprise operating in the cloud. The best approaches come at the job concurrently from three different angles:
- Agent-based endpoint scanning for misconfigurations or vulnerable software or devices.
- Cloud-configuration scanning to spot any misalignment or security gaps in cloud infrastructure, tooling or SaaS platforms.
- The continuation of traditional server and network scanning of any on-prem or legacy systems that remain in operation.
The right MSP can infuse this modern, multi-pronged approach to vulnerability scanning with the most advanced and up to date threat intelligence. For instance, ECI relies on advanced resources like the MITRE CVE database together with the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (KEVC) to combine insights on known vulnerabilities together with actual exploits. The MSP role is crucial here, since few organizations could afford on their own to pay the subscription fees and hire the experts to acquire and adequately interpret these threat feeds.
Ultimately, the right MSP will combine sophisticated threat intel with the most advanced scanning approaches for vulnerability assessments that proactively identify and protect against all manner of malware, viruses, backdoors, known/unknown processes, botnet-infected systems and other threats, regardless of where they may arise across the extended digital enterprise. This gives clients the peace of mind to focus on core business operations while the right MSP partner handles the job of continually assessing vulnerabilities and remediating cyber threats in real time.
