Frequently Asked Questions

Vulnerability Assessment Basics

What is a vulnerability assessment?

A vulnerability assessment is a process that uses automated scans to identify and prioritize security weaknesses in an organization's digital attack surface. These assessments search for software with known vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, providing insights into potential risks and enabling security teams to remediate threats. Learn more.

How does a vulnerability assessment work?

Vulnerability assessments begin by scoping which assets will be included, then use automated scanning tools to identify known vulnerabilities in software and operating systems. The scanner checks for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), prioritizes findings using Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scores, and generates a report with recommended remediation steps. Read more.

Why are vulnerability assessments important?

Vulnerability assessments are crucial for identifying security weaknesses before attackers can exploit them. In 2024, over 40,000 new vulnerabilities were assigned CVEs. Regular assessments help organizations find and close vulnerabilities, reducing risk and potential costs associated with security breaches. Source.

What are the limitations of vulnerability assessments?

Vulnerability assessments have several limitations: they may not validate exploitability, leading to false positives; they can miss threats like misconfigurations or custom code errors; severity-based prioritization may lack business context; and results can become outdated quickly if assessments aren't performed regularly. Learn more.

How do vulnerability assessments differ from penetration tests?

Vulnerability assessments use automated tools for broad, surface-level scans of known vulnerabilities, while penetration tests are manual, focused exercises that exploit and chain vulnerabilities to simulate real-world attacks. Penetration tests validate vulnerabilities and provide deeper analysis but are more expensive and time-consuming. Read the full comparison.

Features & Capabilities

What features does IONIX offer for vulnerability assessment and attack surface management?

IONIX provides comprehensive, attacker-centric attack surface discovery, proactive automated risk assessment, business-centric risk prioritization, and automated remediation of exploitable risks. These features help organizations gain complete visibility, prioritize threats, and streamline remediation. Learn more.

Does IONIX integrate with other security and IT platforms?

Yes, IONIX integrates with platforms such as Jira, ServiceNow, Slack, Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Palo Alto Cortex/Demisto, AWS Control Tower, AWS PrivateLink, and pre-trained Amazon SageMaker Models. For a full list, visit IONIX Integrations.

Does IONIX offer an API for integrations?

Yes, IONIX provides an API that supports integrations with major platforms including Jira, ServiceNow, Splunk, Cortex XSOAR, and more. Details are available at IONIX Integrations.

What guides and resources does IONIX provide for vulnerability assessment and cybersecurity?

IONIX offers comprehensive guides, datasheets, and case studies covering topics such as vulnerability assessment, exposure management, web application security, and attack surface management. These resources are available at IONIX Guides and IONIX Resources.

Use Cases & Benefits

Who can benefit from using IONIX?

IONIX is designed for Information Security and Cybersecurity VPs, C-level executives, IT managers, and security managers across industries, including Fortune 500 companies. It helps organizations proactively manage risk, improve security posture, and streamline operations. See customer examples.

What business impact can customers expect from using IONIX?

Customers can expect improved risk management, operational efficiency, cost savings, and enhanced security posture. IONIX enables visualization and prioritization of attack surface threats, actionable insights, and reduced mean time to resolution (MTTR). Learn more.

Can you share specific case studies or customer success stories?

Yes. For example, E.ON used IONIX to continuously discover and inventory their internet-facing assets, improving risk management. Warner Music Group boosted operational efficiency and aligned security operations with business goals. Grand Canyon Education enhanced security by proactively discovering and remediating vulnerabilities. E.ON Case Study, Warner Music Group Case Study, Grand Canyon Education Case Study.

What industries are represented in IONIX's case studies?

IONIX's case studies cover industries such as insurance and financial services, energy, critical infrastructure, IT and technology, and healthcare. See more resources.

Pain Points & Solutions

What core problems does IONIX solve?

IONIX helps organizations identify their complete external web footprint, proactively manage security, gain real attack surface visibility, and maintain continuous discovery and inventory of assets. These solutions address challenges like shadow IT, fragmented environments, and lack of attacker-perspective visibility. Learn more.

What are the KPIs and metrics associated with the pain points IONIX solves?

Key KPIs include completeness of attack surface visibility, identification of shadow IT, remediation time targets, effectiveness of surveillance, severity ratings for vulnerabilities, risk prioritization effectiveness, completeness of asset inventory, and frequency of updates to asset dependencies.

How does IONIX solve pain points differently than other solutions?

IONIX uniquely identifies the entire external web footprint, proactively manages threats before escalation, provides attacker-perspective visibility, and continuously tracks assets and dependencies. These capabilities offer comprehensive risk management and dynamic tracking, setting IONIX apart from competitors who may overlook unmanaged assets or rely on reactive measures. Learn more.

Technical Requirements & Implementation

How long does it take to implement IONIX, and how easy is it to get started?

IONIX's initial deployment typically takes about a week and requires only one person to implement and scan the entire network. Customers have access to onboarding resources such as guides, tutorials, webinars, and a dedicated Technical Support Team. Read more.

What training and technical support does IONIX offer?

IONIX provides streamlined onboarding resources, including guides, tutorials, webinars, and a dedicated Technical Support Team to assist customers during implementation and adoption. Learn more.

What kind of ongoing support and maintenance does IONIX provide?

IONIX offers technical support and maintenance services during the subscription term, including troubleshooting, upgrades, and regular review meetings. Customers are assigned a dedicated account manager for smooth communication and support. See terms.

Security & Compliance

What security and compliance certifications does IONIX have?

IONIX is SOC2 compliant and supports companies with NIS-2 and DORA compliance, ensuring robust security measures and regulatory alignment.

Product Performance & Recognition

How is IONIX rated for product performance and innovation?

IONIX has earned top ratings for product innovation, security, functionality, and usability. It was named a leader in the Innovation and Product categories of the ASM Leadership Compass for completeness of product vision and a customer-oriented, cutting-edge approach to ASM. See details.

Customer Proof & Testimonials

Who are some of IONIX's customers?

IONIX's customers include Infosys, Warner Music Group, The Telegraph, E.ON, Grand Canyon Education, and a Fortune 500 Insurance Company. See more.

What feedback have customers given about IONIX's ease of use?

Customers have rated IONIX as user-friendly and appreciate having a dedicated account manager for smooth communication and support.

Competitive Positioning

How does IONIX compare to other attack surface management solutions?

IONIX stands out for its ML-based 'Connective Intelligence' that finds more assets with fewer false positives, Threat Exposure Radar for prioritizing critical issues, and comprehensive digital supply chain coverage. Unlike alternatives, IONIX reduces noise, validates risks, and provides actionable insights for maximum risk reduction and operational efficiency. Learn more.

Objection Handling

How does IONIX address value objections?

IONIX demonstrates immediate time-to-value with no impact on technical staffing, offers personalized demos, and shares real-world case studies to highlight measurable outcomes and efficiencies.

How does IONIX address timing objections?

IONIX offers flexible implementation timelines, a dedicated support team, seamless integration capabilities, and emphasizes long-term benefits and efficiencies gained by starting sooner.

Vulnerability Assessments: How They Work, Benefits & Limitations

Vulnerability assessments use automated scans to achieve surface-level visibility into an organization’s digital attack surface.
Amit Sheps
Amit Sheps Director of Product Marketing LinkedIn

Vulnerability assessments use automated scans to achieve surface-level visibility into an organization’s digital attack surface. Vulnerability scanners search for software with known vulnerabilities and prioritize it by severity, enabling security teams to apply patches or take other steps to remediate these threats.

How does it work?

Vulnerability assessments leverage automated tools to quickly identify surface-level vulnerabilities in an organization’s attack surface.

  1. Assessment Scoping: A vulnerability assessment begins with identifying the assets that will be included in the assessment. This might involve defining IT ranges or specifying assets and endpoints based on their role in the business. Additionally, the organization needs to decide where to run the scanner (inside or outside the perimeter) and whether to provide it with privileged access. Depending on the scan location and type, a scanner may identify different issues.
  2. Automated Scanning: Vulnerability assessments use automated scans to identify known vulnerabilities in software and operating systems (OS). To do so, the scanner will collect information about a particular piece of software and then check if it has any Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) listing associated with it.
  3. Analysis and Prioritization: At the end of the scan, the tool will have a list of vulnerabilities associated with the various systems within the scope of the assessment. These vulnerabilities are then prioritized for remediation based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scores associated with their CVE listings.
  4. Reporting and Remediation: The output of a vulnerability scan is a report detailing the actions taken, findings, and recommendations for how to remediate identified threats. The security team can take this list and address the detected vulnerabilities in order of priority.

The importance of vulnerability assessments

Software vulnerabilities are a major issue for most companies. In 2024 alone, over 40,000 new vulnerabilities were assigned CVEs. While not every vulnerability affects a particular organization, and many are not exploitable, most companies have numerous unpatched flaws in their software.

Regular vulnerability assessments provide companies with visibility into the software bugs that pose the most significant risk to their businesses. Testing regularly and rapidly addressing the most severe vulnerabilities in the list increases the company’s probability of finding and closing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by an attacker. By doing so, the organization dramatically reduces the cost and risk associated with a vulnerability.

The limitations of vulnerability assessments

Vulnerability assessments can provide real value to an organization, but they have their issues as well. Some of the main limitations of vulnerability assessments include:

  • Lack of Validation: Vulnerability scanners identify vulnerabilities based on whether the version of the software running in an organization’s environment has known CVEs. However, it doesn’t validate the exploitability of these vulnerabilities, which can lead to false positive detections. These errors may result in wasted time and effort eliminating a non-existent threat while other, exploitable vulnerabilities are ignored.
  • Limited Visibility: Vulnerability scanners look for known vulnerabilities with associated CVEs. However, this misses other potential threats, such as misconfigurations or errors in custom code that could be identified and exploited by an attacker.
  • Severity-Based Prioritization: Vulnerability scanners typically use CVSS scores to prioritize the vulnerabilities that they define. However, this lacks valuable context about the role of the software in the business and the potential impacts of an attack on critical assets and workflows.
  • Stale Results: Vulnerability scans are a snapshot of an organization’s attack surface, but new threats are discovered all the time. If vulnerability assessments aren’t performed regularly, security teams may be working based on outdated information and lack visibility into new, major threats.

Vulnerability assessments vs. penetration tests

Vulnerability assessment and penetration tests are both designed to help an organization identify potential security gaps in its digital attack surface. However, they have significant differences, including:

  • Scope: Vulnerability assessments perform a broad, surface-level assessment of known vulnerabilities and perform no validation. Penetration tests are typically more focused, testing for weaknesses in particular systems.
  • Automation: Vulnerability assessments use automated scanners to identify vulnerable software. While penetration testers may also use these tools, these exercises involve manual testing and more in-depth analysis.
  • Depth: Vulnerability assessments perform surface-level analysis, looking for a weakness that an attacker may use to gain initial access to an organization’s environment. Penetration testers exploit and chain vulnerabilities to simulate real-world attacks and achieve predefined goals.

In general, vulnerability assessments are cheaper and easier to perform but only provide surface-level information and frequent false positives. Penetration tests are more expensive, but they offer a deeper look and validate any identified vulnerabilities.

Learn more: read our detailed guide about vulnerability assessments vs. penetration tests.

How to choose a vulnerability assessment tool

When evaluating potential vulnerability assessment tools, consider the following factors.

  • Scalability and Coverage: Vulnerability assessments are intended to provide visibility into potential risks to the business, which makes any blindspots dangerous for corporate security. A tool should be able to scan all parts of an organization’s infrastructure with support for a broad range of connected systems.
  • Update Frequency: New vulnerabilities are discovered daily, and cybercriminals often move quickly to exploit newly published ones. A vulnerability assessment tool should perform frequent database updates to ensure that it offers visibility into the latest threats.
  • Ease of Use: A vulnerability scanner may balance ease of use against the level of configurability available. Look for tools that provide the greatest range of capabilities at an acceptable level of complexity.
  • Reporting Capabilities: At a minimum, a vulnerability scanner should provide a list of the vulnerabilities identified on scanned systems. However, they can also provide additional information of value, such as remediation advice or insights into compliance risks.

It’s also important to consider that running a tool in-house isn’t an organization’s only option for vulnerability assessment. Vulnerability Assessment as a Service offerings can provide better results and access to subject matter expertise while avoiding the need to maintain this knowledge in-house.

How IONIX can help

Vulnerability assessments can be a useful tool for bolstering corporate cybersecurity, but they have their limitations. IONIX’s comprehensive attack surface management solution provides more complete and up-to-date visibility into an organization’s real risk exposure, offering:

To learn more about reducing your organization’s attack surface with IONIX, book a demo today.