Vulnerability Scanning and Management of University Computer Network

Abstract

University computer Network (UCN) being open, large and diverse in nature has become highly prone to vulnerabilities. Proper scanning and management of vulnerabilities is required to ensure timely remediation and removal of vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities poses a great danger to network security if they are not dealt at regular intervals. Timely scanning, assessment and remediation of vulnerabilities is extremely important in a UCN to keep the network secure from malicious entities. To ensure network security, an effective Vulnerability Management (VM) System is required. Current paper discusses about importance of vulnerability management in a UCN and also elaborate about tools used for scanning and assessment of vulnerabilities in a UCN. Implementation of scanning tools was done on a UCN and scan results were analyzed to identify weaknesses or vulnerabilities in the network. Based on the scan results of scanning tools, the decision about mitigation of vulnerabilities can be taken according to priority. An effective and efficient VM framework is crucial for preventing cybersecurity breaches as it checks for new vulnerabilities on regular basis and also provide remediations or solutions to deal with the vulnerabilities. For the current work, scanning tools Nmap and Nexpose were used to identify vulnerabilities in a UCN. Nmap is used for information gathering of network and Nexpose is used for scanning the network for vulnerability detection.