A vulnerability scan is a lot like getting a checkup at the doctor's office. It's a fundamental part of staying healthy, but the results are only useful if an expert is there to interpret them. In the world of cybersecurity, a vulnerability scan is a non-intrusive, automated process that examines your IT systems, including servers, laptops, and network devices, to identify potential weaknesses that a cybercriminal could exploit.
The goal of a vulnerability scan is simple: to find problems before an attacker does. The scan looks for things like outdated software with known bugs, insecure configurations, or open ports that should not be accessible. At the end of the process, it generates a report listing all the vulnerabilities it found, often with a severity score.
How Automated Scans Work
The process itself is straightforward. An automated scanner typically follows a series of steps:
Discovery: It performs reconnaissance and discovery using protocols like ICMP and TCP/UDP port scans, similar to what a tool like nmap does, to find active hosts and open services on your network.
Information Gathering: Once it has identified these assets, it collects data on the operating systems, service banners, software versions, and other configuration details of each device. These automated scans are often credentialed, meaning they log in with read-only privileges to get a more accurate view of the system’s patch level and internal configuration.
Cross-Referencing: After collecting this information, the scanner cross-references it against massive databases of known vulnerabilities, such as the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) list and the National Vulnerability Database (NVD).
Reporting: The final step is reporting, where it compiles a detailed list of every potential match it finds. The output is often scored using the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), which assigns a numerical score based on exploitability and impact, and can result in a complex, jargon-filled report that spans hundreds of pages.
While the process above describes a traditional network-based scan, the Wazuh platform employs an agent-based model. In this approach, a lightweight agent is installed on each endpoint, whether it's a server or a laptop. The Wazuh agent's Syscollector module is responsible for the continuous collection of system inventory data, which is forwarded to the Wazuh server. The Vulnerability Detection module on the Wazuh server then analyzes the inventory data by cross-referencing it with the Wazuh Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) platform. The CTI platform aggregates vulnerability data from multiple sources, including the NVD and operating system vendors, enabling continuous, real-time detection.
The Problem with Automated-Only Scans
While this process seems thorough, a vulnerability scan alone provides a false sense of security. The technical limitations of relying solely on an automated tool are significant, and they can leave your business dangerously exposed.
The "Crying Wolf" Problem: The raw data provided by Wazuh may generate false positives, requiring a human analyst to perform a crucial sanity check. The tool itself may not always account for complex patch scenarios or specific environmental configurations, creating "noise" that consumes valuable time.
Incomplete Alert Generation: As the Wazuh documentation explains, alerts may not be generated during the initial inventory scan or when an agent reconnects to a different manager node in a clustered deployment. A human analyst is required to recognize these gaps and perform out-of-band checks to ensure full visibility.
Lack of Context and Prioritization: A scanner treats all "Critical" vulnerabilities the same, regardless of their location. It can't distinguish between a critical vulnerability on a non-essential test server and one on your main financial database. Without a human analyst, you won't know which one you need to fix immediately and which one can wait. This is why a well-maintained business asset register is crucial for effective prioritization.
Inability to Detect Attack Paths: A scanner sees individual vulnerabilities in isolation. It is unable to connect the dots between a low-risk misconfiguration and a separate weakness to identify a high-risk attack path. Automated tools lack the capability to see these complex, multi-stage attack scenarios, which often involve privilege escalation and lateral movement across the network.
Blind to the Unknown: Finally, scanners are excellent at finding known vulnerabilities, but they are blind to the unknown. They won't detect a custom exploit, a zero-day vulnerability, or a misconfiguration that isn't in their database. They simply lack the intuition and experience of a human security expert.
The Secure Origin Difference: The Power of Human-Led Analysis
At Secure Origin, we believe that an automated scan is just the first step. The real value, and the real protection, comes from pairing our powerful technology with the expertise of our human analysts.
Human-Led Review: Our human analysts review every result. We use threat intelligence fusion to correlate scan data with real-world threat actors and attack patterns, eliminating false positives and providing a clear, contextualized summary of what was found.
Business-Focused Prioritization: We don't just give you a long list of issues. Our team works with you to understand your business-critical assets. We prioritize vulnerabilities based on what poses a genuine risk to your data and operations, so you can focus on fixing what matters most.
Actionable Plan: The report isn't the end of the process; it's the beginning. We provide a clear, prioritized list of actions your team needs to take to fix the most dangerous vulnerabilities. For our managed clients, we even help implement these fixes, taking the burden completely off your shoulders.
Continuous, Proactive Defense: Our vulnerability scanning is one part of a complete managed security solution. The data from the scans informs our threat hunting and incident response, providing a continuous, proactive defense for your business. We also perform manual penetration testing to find the complex attack paths that automated tools miss.
True security comes from combining powerful technology with the expertise of human analysts. With Secure Origin, you get a clear, prioritized security plan and a team that proactively protects you.
Ready to get the full picture of your cybersecurity risk?
Contact Secure Origin today for a free consultation and let our experts help you build a proactive, human-led defense strategy.
