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Altostrat’s Vulnerability Scanning service proactively identifies known security weaknesses (CVEs) on devices within your network. By scheduling regular, automated scans, you gain a continuous view of your security posture, discover potential risks before they can be exploited, and receive AI-powered guidance on how to remediate them. This process transforms vulnerability management from a reactive, manual task into a streamlined, automated workflow.

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The Vulnerability Management Lifecycle

Our platform guides you through a complete, four-phase lifecycle for every vulnerability.

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Phase 1: Creating a Scan Schedule

A Scan Schedule is a recurring, automated task that scans specified network segments for vulnerabilities.
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1. Navigate to Vulnerability Scanning

In the SDX dashboard, go to Security → Vulnerability Scanning and click Create Schedule.
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2. Configure the Schedule

  1. Description: Give the schedule a clear name (e.g., “Weekly Main Office Scan”).
  2. Timing: Define the recurrence, such as the Day of Week, Time of Day (in a specific Timezone), and frequency (e.g., every 2 weeks). It’s best to schedule scans during off-peak hours.
  3. Targets: Select the Site(s) to scan and specify the exact Subnet(s) within each site (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24).
  4. Thresholds: Set the Minimum CVSS Score to report on. This helps filter out low-severity noise. You can also set a Warning Threshold to highlight high-priority vulnerabilities.
  5. Notifications: Choose a Notification Group to receive alerts when a scan is complete.
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3. Save the Schedule

Click Save. The scan will automatically run at its next scheduled time.

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Phase 2: Reviewing Scan Reports

After a scan completes, a detailed report is generated. You can find all historical reports in the main Vulnerability Scanning section of the dashboard. Each report summary provides key metrics at a glance:
  • Hosts Scanned: The number of unique devices discovered on the network.
  • CVEs Found: The total number of vulnerability instances detected.
  • Highest Score: The CVSS score of the most critical vulnerability found.
Click on a report to view detailed findings, including a list of all affected hosts and the specific CVEs discovered on each.

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Phase 3: Triaging and Managing Vulnerabilities

The most important step is acting on the results. Our platform provides tools to help you investigate and manage the lifecycle of each discovered vulnerability.
  1. Investigate a Device: From a scan report, you can drill down into a specific device (identified by its MAC address) to see all CVEs ever found on it.
  2. Get Mitigation Advice: For any given CVE, click the “Get Mitigation” button. Our AI engine will provide actionable, step-by-step guidance on how to fix the vulnerability, formatted in easy-to-read Markdown.
  3. Update the CVE Status: Once you have addressed a vulnerability (or chosen to accept the risk), update its status for that specific device. This is crucial for tracking remediation progress.
    • Mark as Mitigated: Use this status when you have applied a patch or implemented a workaround.
    • Mark as Accepted: Use this status if you determine the vulnerability is a false positive or represents an acceptable risk in your specific environment (e.g., the affected service is not exposed). You must provide a justification for auditing purposes.

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On-Demand Scans

In addition to scheduled scans, you can trigger a scan at any time.
  • Run Schedule Now: From the list of scan schedules, click the “Run Now” button to immediately queue a scheduled scan.
  • Scan a Single IP: Use the on-demand scan feature to instantly check a specific device you’ve just added to the network or recently patched.

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Best Practices

Scan Consistently

Regular, scheduled scans are the key to maintaining an accurate view of your security posture. A weekly or bi-weekly cadence is a great starting point.

Focus on Critical CVEs First

Start by setting your min_cvss threshold to 7.0 or higher to focus on High and Critical vulnerabilities. Once those are managed, you can lower the threshold to address medium-severity issues.

Triage is Continuous

Vulnerability management is an ongoing process, not a one-time fix. Regularly review new scan results and triage any new findings to prevent security debt from accumulating.