Which of the following would be used to identify the security posture of a network without actually
exploiting any weaknesses?

A.
Penetration test

B.
Code review

C.
Vulnerability scan

D.
Brute Force scan

Explanation:
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/or
threatened. 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 weakness in the system.
B: A code review is the process of reviewing the programming code in an application. It is not used to
identify the security posture of a network.
D: A brute force scan is similar to a penetration test in that you are actually trying to access a system by
exploiting a weakness in the system.

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