Everything you need to know to create a Vulnerability Assessment Report

You’ve been asked for a Vulnerability Assessment Report for your
organisation and for some of you reading this article, your first
thought is likely to be “What is that?”

Worry not. This article will answer that very question as well
as why you need a Vulnerability Assessment Report and where you can
get one from.

As it’s likely the request for such a report came from an
important source such as the Board, a partner, a client or an
auditor, there isn’t a moment to waste. So let’s drive straight
in.

What is a Vulnerability Assessment Report and why do
you need one?

A Vulnerability Assessment Report is simply a document that
illustrates how you are managing your organisation’s
vulnerabilities. It’s important because, with tens of thousands of
new technology flaws being discovered every year, you need to be
able to prove that your organisation does its best to avoid attack
if you want to be trusted by partners and customers.

A best security practice recommended by governments across the
world, a vulnerability assessment^[1] is an automated review
process that provides insights into your current security state.
The vulnerability assessment report is the outcome of this review.
Used as a roadmap to a better state of security preparedness, it
lays out the unique risks your organisation is up against due to
the technology you use, and reveals how best to overcome them with
minimal disruption to your core business strategy and
operations.

The help it provides is clear but why do you need one?
As mentioned above, it’s likely you were asked for a Vulnerability
Assessment Report by the Board, a partner, a client or an auditor
as each of these groups needs reassurance that you’re on top of any
weaknesses in your infrastructure. Here’s why:

— Customers need to trust you

Weaknesses in your IT systems could affect your customers’
operations. With supply chain attacks on the rise, a vulnerability
in a single company could leave the whole range of organizations
paralysed, as demonstrated by the infamous SolarWinds hack last
year.

It doesn’t matter how small your business is; if your customers
will be entrusting you with any of their data, they may wish for a
Vulnerability Assessment Report first to confirm that your IT
security practices are tiptop.

— The Board wants a better understanding of the business’
risk

Cyber security is a growing concern across many businesses, so
chances are your board members want to take a better grip of their
risk, before the lack of insights into vulnerabilities is turned
into a much more serious business problem. With ransomware attacks
regularly making headlines, having proper vulnerability management
in place and presenting an “all clear” report, can give your
business heads that needed peace of mind.

— Your auditors are checking for compliance

Many of the regulatory or compliance frameworks related to
security and privacy, like SOC2, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001, and PCI
DSS, advise or outright require regular compliance scans and
reporting, so if the request for a vulnerability assessment report
was made by your auditor, it is likely to be for compliance
purposes.

— Your CFO is renewing your cyber insurance

It could be the case that your insurance provider is seeking a
vulnerability assessment report as part of the underwriting
process. If you don’t want to run the risk of being denied your
insurance payment or wouldn’t like to see your premiums rise, then
you could benefit from supplying these reports regularly.

How often do you need to produce a vulnerability
assessment report?

Regularly. Think of it like vulnerability scanning: For maximum
efficacy, you need to conduct regular, if not constant,
comprehensive evaluations of your entire technology stack,
otherwise you could miss something that could bring your business
to a costly halt.

Cybercriminals do not stop searching until they find something
they can take advantage of. You need to scan your systems
continuously and have up to date reporting to reflect your
vigilance as and when it’s needed.

Modern vulnerability scanning solutions, like Intruder^[2], will give you a cyber
hygiene score which enables you to track the progress of your
vulnerability management efforts over time, proving that your
security issues are being continuously resolved in good time.‍

A vulnerability assessment report from Intruder, to provide evidence to your customers or regulators that a vulnerability scanning process is in place.

What should be included in a vulnerability assessment
report?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a one size fits all report. While the
contents are generally the number of vulnerabilities detected in
your systems at a point in time, your different stakeholders will
require varying levels of detail. Even for compliance purposes,
vulnerability assessment reporting requirements can differ.

As a good rule of thumb, we recommend building an Executive
Report containing graph views and composite cyber hygiene scores
for the Board and C-Suite that clue them in on where they stand at
any given moment. And for your IT team, their report needs greater
detail such as how to apply the correct solutions to existing
problems and sidestep subsequent mistakes.

Where can you get a Vulnerability Assessment Report
from?

Ensuring your Vulnerability Assessment Reports contain all the
elements and information your stakeholders require can take a lot
of work and expertise; which can distract your security teams from
other activities that will keep your organisation secure. That is
why it’s recommended to choose an external provider to produce your
reports.

Before you start comparing individual vendors, make sure you
have a solid understanding of your technical environment and of the
specific outcomes that the vulnerability assessment should present.
This is because vulnerability assessment tools are not built the
same; they check for different types of weaknesses, so you need to
choose the solution that best suits your requirements. Consider the
features and checks you’ll require, as well as the industry
standards you need to follow and your budget.

Two key elements to consider relate to reporting: firstly, how
flexible the assessment provider will be with how much detail is
presented (particularly if you need to present data to different
audiences); and secondly, how clearly the results are communicated.
Scanning results can be overwhelming but the right vendor will
demystify complex security data to grant you a clear, jargon-free
understanding of the risks you face.

At Intruder, reports are designed to be well-understood, whilst
also maintaining all the technical detail required by IT managers
and DevOps teams. Whether you’re a massive enterprise or a
fledgling startup, you can generate rapid reports, create
compliance paper trails, stay secure, and communicate with
employees and potential investors. Intruder offers a free trial of
its software, which you can activate here^[3]. Get vulnerability
assessment reporting in place now.