Install and run vulnerability management software
Our computers are an increasingly complex web of software that hasn't necessarily been designed with security in mind.
Over time, security researchers, hackers, and state sponsored actors work to create vulnerabilities in software to gain unauthorized access to systems, pivot, escalate privileges, and exfiltrate information. Vulnerability scanning acts as a proactive defense mechanism, continuously identifying and assessing security weaknesses in the University's vast network, systems, and applications. Without regular scanning, these hidden vulnerabilities become wide-open doors for malicious actors to exploit, leading to data breaches, disruption of critical services, reputational damage, and severe financial penalties. By systematically pinpointing and prioritizing these weaknesses, we can patch and remediate them before they are exploited.
Requirements
Faculty and staff are required to run the Tenable Agent on any computers owned by the University. For systems that are unable to run the Tenable Agent, we will work with clients on an alternative scan or plan.
This requirement can be automated through the University's computer management service. For more details on Vulnerability Management Scans see this Knowledge Base Article.
