A large multinational corporation with networks in 30 countries wants to establish an understanding of
their overall public-facing network attack surface. Which of the following security techniques would be
BEST suited for this?
A.
External penetration test
B.
Internal vulnerability scan
C.
External vulnerability scan
D.
Internal penetration test
Explanation:
In this question, we need to determine the public-facing network attack surface. We therefore need to
perform a vulnerability scan from outside the network; in other words, an external vulnerability scan.
A vulnerability scan is the automated process of proactively identifying security vulnerabilities of
computing systems in a network in order to determine if and where a system can be exploited and/orthreatened. While public servers are important for communication and data transfer over the Internet,
they open the door to potential security breaches by threat agents, such as malicious hackers.
Vulnerability scanning employs software that seeks out security flaws based on a database of known
flaws, testing systems for the occurrence of these flaws and generating a report of the findings that an
individual or an enterprise can use to tighten the network’s security.
Vulnerability scanning typically refers to the scanning of systems that are connected to the Internet but
can also refer to system audits on internal networks that are not connected to the Internet in order to
assess the threat of rogue software or malicious employees in an enterprise.
Incorrect Answers:
A: Penetration testing evaluates an organization’s ability to protect its networks, applications, computers
and users from attempts to circumvent its security controls to gain unauthorized or privileged access to
protected assets.
The difference between a vulnerability scan and a penetration test is that by performing a penetration
test, you are actually trying to access a system by exploiting a known weakness in the system.
Vulnerability scanning is the process of scanning to detect the potential weaknesses.
B: In this question, we need to determine the public-facing network attack surface. We therefore need to
perform a vulnerability scan from outside the network; in other words, an external vulnerability scan, not
an internal vulnerability scan.
D: Penetration testing evaluates an organization’s ability to protect its networks, applications, computers
and users from attempts to circumvent its security controls to gain unauthorized or privileged access to
protected assets.
The difference between a vulnerability scan and a penetration test is that by performing a penetration
test, you are actually trying to access a system by exploiting a known weakness in the system.
Vulnerability scanning is the process of scanning to detect the potential weaknesses. The test should also
be in external test, not an internal test.http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/vulnerability_scanning.html