How do you balance automation and manual analysis in vulnerability assessment?

1 Benefits of automation

Automation can save you time, resources, and effort in performing vulnerability assessment. By using tools such as scanners, scripts, and frameworks, you can quickly and efficiently scan your targets for known vulnerabilities, generate reports, and track your progress. Automation can also help you cover a large scope of targets, reduce human errors, and maintain consistency in your assessment.

4 Limitations of manual analysis

However, manual analysis also has some drawbacks and challenges that you need to consider when performing vulnerability assessment. For example, manual analysis can be time-consuming, costly, and labor-intensive, especially if you have a large or complex target scope. Manual analysis can also depend on the skill, experience, and judgment of the analyst, which can introduce human errors, biases, or inconsistencies. Furthermore, manual analysis can require some tools, techniques, and permissions that may not be readily available or accessible.

5 Factors to consider

When conducting a vulnerability assessment, it is important to consider factors such as the scope and complexity of your target, the risk level associated with it, and the resources and constraints available. A larger and more complex target may require more automation for efficient and effective scanning, as well as manual analysis to verify results and find vulnerabilities that automation may miss. When assessing a higher risk target, manual analysis is necessary to understand the impact and exploitability of vulnerabilities, as well as provide remediation advice. Automation can be used to prioritize and mitigate the most critical vulnerabilities quickly. Resources and constraints such as budget, time, staff, tools, access permissions, policies, regulations, and ethics must be balanced to optimize the vulnerability assessment process and outcome.

6 Best practices

To achieve a balanced and effective vulnerability assessment, you should plan and define your goals, scope, methodology, and criteria. This will ensure that your automation and manual analysis are aligned with your objectives and expectations. Additionally, it’s important to choose and use the appropriate tools and techniques for your automation and manual analysis to maximize performance and functionality. Validation and verification of the results will help eliminate false positives or negatives, confirm the existence and severity of the vulnerabilities, and provide evidence for your findings. Communication and collaboration with stakeholders and team members should also be a priority throughout the vulnerability assessment process in order to share information, feedback, and recommendations.