External Vulnerability Scanner

Q: Do you offer external penetration testing services?

Yes, we do! At Intruder we have a team of certified ethical hackers who are skilled in many types of penetration testing services, including external network testing. Visit our penetration testing page to find out more.

Hackers are constantly looking for security flaws they can use to compromise sensitive information or steal personal data for financial gain, or to cause havoc and disruption for businesses all over the globe. To do this, they make use of a wide range of tools and vulnerability scanners to automate their efforts and find new targets. So, external vulnerability scanning is an essential process of protecting your business, by finding your security weaknesses before the hackers do.

On average, 20 new vulnerabilities are discovered every day, many of which are in technologies which are designed to sit on your perimeter systems (those which are exposed to the internet). Intruder’s external vulnerability scanner allows you to neutralize threats to your business, by performing vulnerability scans that discover security holes in your most exposed systems.

Intruder’s external network vulnerability scanner checks your systems for vulnerabilities which include web-layer security problems (such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting), infrastructure weaknesses (such as remote code execution flaws), and other security misconfigurations (such as weak encryption configurations, and systems which are unnecessarily exposed).
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Continuous Vulnerability Monitoring

Modern attackers don’t wait to act and usually execute their attacks within weeks of new vulnerabilities being discovered. Intruder’s continuous vulnerability monitoring system ensures that you are secured against even the very latest threats and have time to act before it’s too late.

Intruder’s external vulnerability scanner includes proactive checks for emerging threats. This means when a new vulnerability is discovered in software deployed on your perimeter, Intruder scans your systems and alerts you to newly discovered vulnerabilities automatically. This kind of proactive action is essential for businesses that don’t have processes in place to research the latest threats and manually run scans for them.

Quality External Vulnerability Scanning

Intruder’s external pen test tool uses the same underlying scanning engine as the big banks do, so you can enjoy high quality security checks, without the complexity. It also curates its results to help you prioritize your security issues which will have a real impact, and uses noise reduction algorithms to store issues with no security impact in a separate panel, so you can focus on the issues that matter first.

Intruder’s Vanguard solution includes manual verification by top security professionals, so automated vulnerability scanning is closer to a manual penetration test than ever through continuous coverage. Your scan results are analyzed for their real risk, and false positive results are omitted, so you’ll never again need to waste time reading security issues which have no real impact on your business.
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Simple, Seamless & Effective Vulnerability Management

Vulnerability scanning results from some tools on the market can be challenging to say the least. Intruder’s issue descriptions are written in accessible language which focus on the real security impact of issues, and the types of real-world attacks that can arise from them. Its reporting system is accessible to less technical readers, whilst also maintaining all the technical detail required by the security professionals and developers that will be working on fixes for the security weaknesses it uncovers.

As a SaaS product, Intruder’s external vulnerability scanner works seamlessly with your technical environment. There’s no need for lengthy installations or complex configuration, and comes with a range of integrations to make vulnerability management a breeze:
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• Cloud integrations: Automatically manage your AWS, Azure and Google Cloud targets with ease, from within the Intruder platform.
• Slack: Keep an eye on your security exposure in real-time with Intruder’s Slack integration.
• Jira: Send security issues to Jira, for easy tracking of your security issues.
• Microsoft Teams: Get notified about important events in the Intruder platform, such as when a scan completes or when we check you for the latest emerging threats.
• Zapier: Extend Intruder to 2,000+ other apps and move your info between web services automatically.
• REST API: Full automation of your vulnerability management process is possible with Intruder’s REST API, so you can integrate Intruder with your development and deployment cycles seamlessly.

FAQ

Should I start with external vulnerability scanning or web application scanning?

Ideally you should do both. That being said, the majority of data breaches are caused by hackers exploiting vulnerabilities that are visible from the Internet, so you want to make sure that your external systems are protected from the outset. External scanners are also able to detect multiple web-layer issues, so if you’re new to vulnerability scanning, they are often the best tools to start with.

How often should I run vulnerability scans?

We recommend conducting vulnerability scans at least monthly; however, your optimum scanning frequency will largely depend on the type of organization you’re tasked with securing, or the type of systems that you wish to scan. To get a better understanding of how frequently you should run your vulnerability scans, read our helpful guide.

Should I perform external vulnerability scanning or external penetration testing?

The two services complement each other, so ideally you should do both. An experienced penetration tester can find issues that are not detectable by machines, for example, by chaining several minor weaknesses together to discover a hidden critical vulnerability. On the other hand, vulnerability scanners can help you automate your security checks and provide continuous protection in the periods between manual in-depth tests.

It’s important to point out though that penetration testers typically perform vulnerability scanning as part of their assessments, so if you’re just getting started and want to gain an overview of the state of your security, you will benefit from running a vulnerability scan first.

Do you offer external penetration testing services?

Yes, we do! At Intruder we have a team of certified expert security professionals who are skilled in many types of penetration testing services, including external network testing. Visit our penetration testing page to find out more.

Can I perform internal network scanning using Intruder?

Yes, it’s possible to use Intruder for internal network scanning. Our internal scanner is agent-based, so you’ll need to install a piece of software on each host you’re planning to scan, either Windows, Linux or MacOS. To learn more about it, please read our help article.

Can I scan behind a web-app login?

Yes, you can carry out authenticated web application scans using Intruder. This includes modern web apps and single page applications (SPAs), to learn more, visit our web application vulnerability scanner page.