How to Choose the Right Web Vulnerability Scanner?

Recently we can see every day in the news headlines “Cyber-Security Breaches” or “Cyber Attacks”. Attackers can come from anywhere, at any time, whatever your company size or type is targeted. According to the global study by PwC, volume of cyberattack grew up to 48 % in 2014. Everything about the way we work, play, shop, and communicate nowadays is online and we see digitalization in different sectors.

In our cyberspace world, save time, money and other resources is a must these days. That is why it is crucial to be forewarned and protected against such threats before they occurred, which is one of the hardest tasks companies must overcome.

To highlight the risks of cyberattacks, you have to think as a businessman about all aspects of your business such as your brand, your brand image, your e-reputation and revenue which are all on the same line. So you are probably thinking about creating a culture of security that will enhance your business and consumer confidence.

The Comparison Status (Price vs Features) :

Most users are always taking into account Price of Web Vulnerability Scanner (WVS), and most of providers take into consideration their Features.

The price has to be considered as an Investment, with a quick ROI. Indeed, the average cost of an incident for SMEs reaches $100,000 to $183,000 (CSIS 2014). Also around 60% of SMEs are unable to sustain their businesses six months after a cyberattack.

The ideal solution for users is to find a solution that meets all their specific requirements without putting them in a comparison between a limited numbers of options.

The one which detects most vulnerabilities and have a good price while considering these following elements’:

• A price adapted to the size and type of your web app

The first and major criteria, especially for SMEs, is to have packages which meet your needs whatever your company, activity and size: R&D, certified seal, monitoring, personalized packages in number of pages, monthly payment without commitment… Pay the fair price!

If you have a showcase site with less than 100 pages you will not pay the same amount than for a complex e-commerce site with 100 times more pages. Choose the solution adapted to your needs.

• The way it works, the availability of your websites, the solution coverage …

The solution should analyze the behavior of your website to simulate very quickly thousands of malicious codes injections. That’s why it has to have profiling technology, machine learning system and perform a full parse of all of your web app: 100% pages and used technology in the webserver (CMS, DBMS, Flash…)!

These criteria should not affect the availability of your website during the attacks simulation: take care that the WVS does not occupy the bandwidth, neither damage the site.

Your solution should detect at a minimum the top 10 OWASP vulnerabilities, but also the Zero-Day: It is a vulnerability in your system that is not yet known by the user, vendor or developer/ editor, and is exploited by hackers.

• The simplicity, efficiency… Yes! But how?

Find the solution that matches with the technical level of all users, whatever their technical competencies: CEO, CIO, webmaster, technical manager… Its efficacy takes place with:

1. Availability: without download nor installation
2. Simplicity: clear correctives measures and recommendations, understandable by all
3. Automation: scan frequency personalized and schedulable

Choose a solution equipped with monitoring system: real time SMS and E-mail alerts allow to keep an eye on detected anomalies and vulnerabilities in order to bring immediate corrections.

Moreover, try to communicate toward your users to show that cyber security is in the center of your internal preoccupations and keep your reputation safe: a security seal updated after each scan is a real trust pledge.

• Detailed reporting system / I want to correct my vulnerabilities!
  

If you cannot see what is wrong, then you do not know what to remediate. Reporting is a very important aspect of WVS and having vulnerabilities report does not mean that your website or your web app are secured: counter-measures are primordial.

Choose also a web vulnerability scanner that bring zero false positive guarantees. For example within a simulation tool: by showing the attack that an attackers would had done by exploiting the detected vulnerability. It proves that the security flaws are real, and insure no manual retreatment and so, a gain of time.

Make sure of the reliability of the reports: with priority to your corrections depending on the level of risks, with immediate counter-measures’ adapted to your programming language.

Finally, you have to notice if reports provides security compliances recommendations, allowing to know the direct impacts for the enterprise (ISO, PCI-DSS…).

Security decision (You can do it!) :

Security must be part of the business environment since a single successful attack could seriously damage all your business. Indeed, cybersecurity is like a backup, it is when we need it that it is too late!

Your decision for an offensive daily solution should be done proactively, before being a cyber-attack victim. Your WVS should answers all the above questions and criteria’s, from the risks limitation to the optimization of security to all level of your site, SaaS or web app.

Important advices :

• Check the reliability of the websites you browse and share personal information owing to a certified seal of trust of SSL certificate (green lock and https addresses).

• The security of your web apps should not only rely on defensive solution (such as firewall or antivirus) and / or punctual solution only: these solutions become obsolete due to the evolution of complex systems into the cloud.

• Avoid using public computers or Wi-Fi hotspots to access to your sensitive data: online banking, online payment services.

• Create strong passwords using mix of lower and upper case letters, numbers and symbols different for each account: use mnemonics tool to remind them.

• The security of your website depends on the security of all used technologies: choose a solution with a full parse (CMS, DBMS, Ajax, JavaScript…).

Secure and protect your websites, web apps from hackers by using a Web Vulnerability Scanner which answers to all the above questions and protect 100% of your site even your authentication spaces.

Final message :

Differentiate your entity as a trusted company that is able to address your clients and partners’ security needs.

Cybersecurity is a social issues and a continuous game: the best player will be the one able to be always on the right track with the right tools to be protected from any type of uptick flaws and cyberattacks.

HTTPCS the web vulnerability scanner answers all of these criteria’s and users ‘needs, by helping them to daily face the cybercrime stakes.

HTTPCS changed the role of the game. Which means offering an offensive security solution which enables you to secure your sensitive and internal data quickly, daily and efficiently. In addition addressing the vulnerable points, pricing challenges and security gaps.[su_box title=”About Mohamed Salah” style=”noise” box_color=”#336588″]Mohamed Salah, Director of International Business Development at HTTPCS FRANCE the European leader in website security against cyber-attacks. Spearheaded a cross-business task team to develop new use cases for products and service offerings within the existing portfolio. Before joining Ziwit the owner company of HTTPCS, Previously After a 7-year career at TE-Data EGYPT as a Retail & Technical support Engineer. Mohamed served several diverse roles including interacts with managerial, legal, technical and other professional business tasks .After his Study in Boston University USA and being a Cisco certified in 2008, he started his Master degree in 2014 in Montpellier1 University FRANCE in International Management of SMEs. To add another value to his professional experience life.[/su_box]