RE: Vulnerability Assessment vs. PenTest

["Richard Feist" <richard () bluesec net>]

H'mmm... I've formed my own view over the years...and before I get flamed
this is a gross generalisation:

Security Scan ... Run nessus / nmap / internet scanner / retina and produce
report.

Vulnerability Assessment ... Run nessus / nmap / internet scanner / retina ,
add a bit of test around a few of the vulnerabilities to beef up report and
produce report.

Security Audit ... Examine the process and configuration and ensure
compliance with documented process / configuration. Incl. Standards, etc
where documented ie 17799. Ignore how it can be abused.

Penetration Test ... Do a partial VA (generally external, not internal) as
prep and then exploit a couple of the vulnerabilites found to prove,
sometimes with a token 'we got this' 

Security Assessment ... Comprehensive end to end test encompassing physical
through to human (OSI layer 1 to 7 plus human 8 )

> From these what we generally are missing is that these need to be done with
a good understanding of the business and its operational requirements,
generally this is missed and the results are largely un-aligned with the
business, risk management and governance. As an industry this is what we
need to improve.

We also have the problem of the testing being done at large intervals and
this tends to lend a false sense of security. With the way things are going
this is a waste of time/money for the organisation that would be better
spent in ensuring continuous validation of the environment. Ie
tracking/managing the operational security and dealing with weaknesses as
they occur. What we are seeing with SoX, etc is a pressure to get this to a
more 'real time' state. 

Saying that I do believe that a 3rd party assessment is still required but
needs to be more aligned with the business , its risk management and
internal/continous testing and this is where the Enterprise Security
Architecture should come in.

When I get to the stage where the OSSTMM covers both internal and external
testing, a continuos cycle plus relevant metrics ...i'll be happy I've a got
a "Security Assessment" that has long term worth for the business spending
money.

Just an opinion :-)


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christine Kronberg [mailto:seeker () shalla de] 
> Sent: 07 August 2006 04:54
> To: Arkem Paul
> Cc: pen-test () securityfocus com
> Subject: Re: Vulnerability Assessment vs. PenTest
>
> On Sun, 6 Aug 2006, Arkem Paul wrote:
>
> > A Vulnerability Assessment should be a comprehensive look 
> from policy 
> > and procedures to implementation of security in the network 
> and should 
> > include such things as patch management, virus protection, user 
> > education, SOE hardening, infrastructure configuration, etc.
>
>    So basicly an assessment is equal to an audit? The 
> description above
>    is what I usually expect from someone doing an audit.
>    A vulnerability assessment I tend to understand in terms 
> of investigating
>    a specific application (in far more detail than a 
> penetration test).
>
>    There are a couple of term mixed every now and again (like someone
>    else just stated: funny that we professionals don't come 
> up with _one_
>    definition):
>
>    Audit
>    Security Scan
>    Security Assessment
>    Vulnerability Assessment
>    Penetration Test
>
>    Did I miss one?
>
>    Cheers,
>
>    Christine Kronberg.
>
>
>
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Choice Award from eWeek. As attacks through web applications continue to rise, 
you need to proactively protect your applications from hackers. Cenzic has the 
most comprehensive solutions to meet your application security penetration 
testing and vulnerability management needs. You have an option to go with a 
managed service (Cenzic ClickToSecure) or an enterprise software 
(Cenzic Hailstorm). Download FREE whitepaper on how a managed service can 
help you: http://www.cenzic.com/news_events/wpappsec.php 
And, now for a limited time we can do a FREE audit for you to confirm your 
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