Technology

What Are the Uses for a Vulnerability Scanner?

Published

6 years ago

09/12/2020

Cyberattacks have become so common that you can expect to see news about a breach every week. Just recently, Twitter experienced a breach that affected high-profile US Twitter accounts. This attack highlights the need for proactive security measures, such as vulnerability scans.

Today’s hyper-connected world calls for extreme vigilance and knowledge of the ever-present threat of cyberattacks. These cyberattacks typically exploit vulnerabilities to breach your networks. What better way to prevent these attacks than to conduct regular vulnerability scans?

What Is a Vulnerability Scanner?

Your network is constantly exposed to threats, and loopholes that could result in catastrophic incidents for your business were threat actors to identify them. Vulnerability scanners simply help identify these threats early enough before threat actors can find them. You can rely on them to scan your system or network for vulnerabilities while comparing the results to pre-established vulnerability databases. Some common vulnerability scanners include ImmuniWeb, Tripwire IP360, Paessler PRTG, and Acunetix.

How to Effectively Use Vulnerability Scanners

For you to effectively use vulnerability scanners, you need to scan your system and network often. The databases that contain recently discovered vulnerabilities tend to be updated often. Ideally, having a team in charge of these scans is ideal.

Once you are done with a scan, the team will assess the ad hoc reports. If they identify an issue with your system, they will suggest a remedy for mitigating the risks involved. Most databases tend to suggest solutions for the vulnerabilities they expose.

Types of Vulnerability Scans

Cyberattackers target flaws or vulnerabilities in networks, systems, and web applications with the sole purpose of exploiting them. For example, when dealing with application vulnerability management, the developers will seek to identify vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, security misconfiguration, failure to restrict URL access, and LDAP injection.

To identify such vulnerabilities, organizations employ different vulnerability scans based on their testing objectives. The most common vulnerability scans include:

External Vulnerability Scans

External scans aim to identify threats that can arise from outside our network, especially on the externally facing services. They are targeted at external IP addresses and ports.

For instance, they can help you assess new services and servers launched since the last time you conducted a scan and any threats associated with them. Some common threats you can find include having servers configured with deprecated services and unsecured transfer protocols. Ideally, you should perform these scans once each month to avoid over/underdoing them. A good example of these scanners is ImmuniWeb.

Internal Vulnerability Scans

Cybersecurity threats can originate from anywhere, even from within your network. Don’t focus all of your resources on external threats and forget that disgruntled employees can target your network. You could also have missed a threat that seeped through your defences. This kind of threat could open up your network to attacks.

You need to perform an internal vulnerability scan to identify these threats. It also seeks to identify vulnerabilities such as encryption weaknesses, missing patches, and configuration weaknesses.

Keep in mind that internal scans are more complicated compared to external scans as they seek to assess your internal assets. These assets include everything in your network, such as vulnerable software. An internal scan will focus on your network’s internal components, searching for possible vulnerabilities and any other points of exploitation. A good example of such scanners is the Paessler PRTG.

Environmental Vulnerability Scans

These scans are specific to certain IT environments, including mobile device-based environments, cloud-based environments, IoT devices, etc. Most of these environments are semi-isolated from the entire organization’s network, but they could wreak havoc to the rest of the network if a breach were to occur. Tripwire IP360 is a good example of such scanners.

For instance, IoT systems tend to be less secure than normal devices since most are designed with security as an afterthought. In turn, most manufacturers work overtime to identify security loopholes before sending out updates to patch these issues. A vulnerability scan will identify unpatched weaknesses in your IoT environment, which can be insightful in protecting your organization.

How Effective Is Vulnerability Scanning?

Vulnerability scanning is effective in identifying vulnerabilities in a network. In fact, 60 per cent of security breaches occur despite there being an existing patch for the ad hoc vulnerability. A scan generates a report of its findings, which you can use to patch the vulnerabilities. However, it’s more effective when combined with other cybersecurity measures, such as penetration testing and vulnerability assessment.

Vulnerability Scan vs. Penetration Test vs. Vulnerability Assessment

These three terms are often used interchangeably, but they don’t have similar meanings. For example, you might ask for a penetration test, but what you really need is a vulnerability assessment. To avoid this confusion, learn to differentiate the three.

What Is a Vulnerability Scan?

A vulnerability scan is run by automated software that tries to identify vulnerabilities in your network or system. It’s a simple process, as explained earlier. It merely identifies the vulnerabilities based on a database of vulnerabilities.

While these scans are important, you shouldn’t rely solely on them. This is because if you run a vulnerability scan and report indicates that your system has no vulnerabilities, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your system is fine. Vulnerability scans play an important role in improving an organization’s security, but they aren’t enough. You need a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that includes vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.

What Is a Vulnerability Assessment?

A vulnerability scan will identify the weaknesses and flaws in your network, but it doesn’t explain the magnitude of these vulnerabilities. You’ll know your network has vulnerabilities, but you have no idea the extent of the damage that these vulnerabilities can inflict on your business.

To understand the damage that these vulnerabilities can cause, you need to conduct a vulnerability assessment, as it takes into account all the assets in your IT infrastructure.

The first stage of the vulnerability assessment is to match all the assets in your environment with their vulnerabilities. This will include your networks, hardware, software, web applications, etc.

Once you’ve matched assets with their vulnerabilities, you will start evaluating the effects the vulnerabilities can have on your business. This will typically require you to assess the impact a weakness can have and the probability of it occurring.

A vulnerability assessment is considered essential as it gives you an idea of what your system can handle, the threats it’s facing, and the magnitude of the threats.

What Is Penetration Testing?

The primary aim of vulnerability assessments and vulnerability scans is to identify vulnerabilities; in contrast, penetration testing seeks to exploit these vulnerabilities. Penetration tests are typically conducted by third parties several times a year as opposed to vulnerability scans, which are conducted more frequently.

Penetration testing begins by identifying weaknesses such as insecure business processes, vulnerable databases, etc. In the next phase, the penetration tester tries to exploit these vulnerabilities.

All three are important and should be part of your cybersecurity strategy. However, you should prioritize vulnerability assessments to keep up with ever-lurking cyberattackers. In contrast, penetration tests can be performed once or twice a year.

Wrapping It Up

Cyberattackers will always try to breach your security, and their primary target will be vulnerabilities that they can exploit. As long as you’re in a connected world, there is always a risk that your network will be hacked. Hackers will breach even the best defences as long as there is a weak link.

However, you can prevent these attacks by constantly scanning your IT infrastructure for vulnerabilities. Don’t stop there. Conduct a vulnerability assessment to help you identify these vulnerabilities, and rank them according to the degree of damage they can cause. Include penetration testing bi-annually or annually to test how your IT infrastructure would fare against an external attack.

Cyberattackers are constantly poking around your network looking for weaknesses, and if you don’t implement measures to strengthen your cybersecurity, they will eventually find these flaws and exploit them. You don’t need complex security measures; a simple vulnerability scan will act as a good starting point.

Technology

NCC Dangles Presidential Waivers Before Phone Manufacturers

Published

7 hours ago

29/06/2026

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Any phone manufacturer that builds a factory in Nigeria has been promised unprecedented policy incentives and executive alignment by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The chairman of the industry’s regulatory agency, Mr Idris Olorunnimbe, made this pledge at the unveiling of the commission’s strategic blueprint aimed to drive domestic manufacturing of smartphones, tablets, and routing equipment.

He stated that some of the incentives to be enjoyed include specialised customs protocols and manufacturing tax holidays, to lower retail device costs for citizens.

According to him, the NCC is moving beyond mere market regulation to actively co-authoring an industrial renaissance with willing investors, highlighting the fundamental link between strong market regulations and consumer affordability.

“Regulation and market integrity are what make a market affordable in the first place. They are the precondition for it. A phone is only truly cheap if it is real, if it is safe, if it connects properly, and if it carries a warranty the buyer can rely on,” he declared.

Mr Olorunnimbe noted that the goal is to shatter the old paradigm that forces citizens to save up for months just to buy basic technology, urging the industry to “retire the assumption that a Nigerian must buy a phone outright, in one payment, on the day. That is not how it works anywhere else in the world.”

The commission’s intervention is expected to address a critical bottleneck in Nigeria’s otherwise booming telecom sector. While aggressive network expansion driven by the executive team has successfully placed coverage within the geographical reach of most citizens, the high upfront cost of compatible entry-level smartphones remains a persistent roadblock.

Central to this industrial masterplan is the integration of the hardware rollout with the NCC’s ongoing project to zero-rate educational websites across the federation. By removing data costs from educational content, the NCC is building a digital ecosystem where learning is universally accessible.

To maximise the impact of this framework, the regulator is advocating locally manufactured MiFi devices, routers, and smartphones to feature embedded, un-deletable shortcuts to national education repositories and open-source vocational training portals. This turns every locally produced device into an immediate, out-of-the-box digital classroom.

Technology

Meta Reaffirms Commitment to Safer, Positive Digital Experiences for Teens

Published

3 days ago

26/06/2026

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has said it will not rest on its laurels in promoting safer and more positive digital experiences for teens.

The firm gave this assurance at the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit, which it co-hosted with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

This event brought together government officials, civil society organisations, parents, educators, creators and youth leaders to discuss digital wellbeing priorities, strengthen partnerships, and promote safer online experiences.

Meta used the opportunity to showcase its ongoing investments in youth safety through built-in protections, parental supervision tools, and digital literacy resources designed to help teens navigate the digital world safely and confidently.

At the centre of Meta’s youth safety efforts are Teen Accounts, a reimagined experience across Meta’s apps designed specifically for teenagers.

Teen Accounts include built-in protections that address parents’ concerns by promoting age-appropriate experiences, limiting unwanted contact, and encouraging healthier digital habits.

Teen Accounts are turned on automatically for all teens, with built-in protections including private accounts, the strictest messaging settings, sensitive content restrictions, limited interactions (tagging/mentions only from people they follow), time limit reminders after 60 minutes each day, and sleep mode between 10 pm and 7 am. Teens under 16 need a parent’s permission to change any of these settings to be less strict.

“At Meta, our goal is to provide teens with safe, age-appropriate online experiences, and events like the Nigeria Youth Safety Summit reflect our commitment to promoting safer and more positive digital experiences for teens.

“With products such as Teen Accounts, Meta is putting the right protections in place so teens can explore their interests and express their creativity in a safe, age-appropriate space.

“We will continue to build the safety features and tools that families need to support young people online,” the Head of Safety Police for EMEA at Meta, Sylvia Musalagani, stated.

“Child online safety is one of our central pillars, and we are steadfast in our mandate to safeguard the Nigerian child from technology-enabled violence. Children cannot navigate the complexities of the online world without informed adults guiding them because safety begins with the parents.

“Safety is a shared tripartite responsibility between parents, technological industries, and government. That is the fundamental premise of today’s summit, a hands-on walk-through of parental supervision tools and Teen Accounts.

“We appreciate Meta for the collaboration and for creating a platform for these important conversations,” the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Ms Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said.

Also commenting, the Minister of Youth Development, Mr Ayodele Olawande, said, “We believe that keeping young people safe online is a shared responsibility. Government, technology companies, schools, parents, social organisations, community groups, and young people themselves all have a role to play. We encourage Meta to make the tools, guides, and learning materials from this initiative more widely available so that young people across Nigeria can continue to benefit from this laudable summit.”

It was learned that through keynote presentations, the Parents Learn & Brunch session held in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, and panel discussions featuring parent creators and parents, participants explored practical approaches to supporting safer online engagement.

The summit also reinforced the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration in advancing digital wellbeing and online safety for young people.

Technology

9 African Firms, Others for 2026 AWS Social Entrepreneur Accelerator Cohort

Published

4 days ago

25/06/2026

Modupe Gbadeyanka

2026 AWS Social Entrepreneur Accelerator Cohort

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Nine African organisations, including Nigeria, will join 33 others from the USA, Australia, India, the UK and others for the fourth Social Entrepreneur Accelerator cohort of Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The companies from Africa chosen for the 2026 edition of this programme are from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon and Tanzania.

These founders are using cloud and AI technology to solve skills shortages, youth unemployment and food security. Building from the ground up, they are creating African solutions for African challenges.

Nigeria leads the selection with three organisations, namely Sabi Scholar, Kayode Alabi Leadership and Wetech Incorporated.

The chief executive of Sabi Scholar, Mr Divine Iloh, said he is creating an “operating system” for African higher education, enabling any university to launch online degrees in 30 days, a potential game-changer for the continent’s 200M+ youth population.

For Kayode Alabi Leadership, the founder, Hammed Kayode Alabi, is reducing inequalities by empowering underserved young people to lead and innovate through transformative education and technology-driven solutions to solve local challenges and thrive as community changemakers.

As for Wetech Incorporated, established by Gabriella Uwadiegwu, it is building Africa’s largest pipeline of women in technology, from training to mentorship to direct employment pathways.

Kenya follows with two organisations, KuzeKuze and STEM Centre Africa. According to the CTO of KuzeKuze, Enock Sangaka Mong’are, the organisation is building “education passports,” as digital records that follow learners throughout their lives, making personalised education measurable and scalable.

While STEM Centre Africa, a non-profit launched in 2017 by two brothers, Dancun, the CTO and Denish Akoum, the CEO, to promote hands-on STEM education, including coding, robotics and 3D design, reaching over 18,000 + students since inception, with 90 per cent gaining proficiency in Python, Scratch and electronics. Operating two centres in Homa Bay County with 10 organisational partners, SCA aims to reach 100,000 learners by 2030.

The remaining four spots are shared by Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon and Tanzania.

In Ghana, BASICS International, founded by CEO Patricia Wilkins, is breaking cycles of poverty by providing education, certified digital skills training and holistic support to underserved children and youth, equipping them to thrive academically, economically and socially.

For South Africa, FunHouse Digital, founded by Ayabulela Yokwana, is turning gaming lounges into self-sustaining education hubs in rural communities – profits from gaming directly fund free coding and digital literacy programs.

In Cameroon, EduCloud, founded by Rosius Ndimofor Ateh, delivers hands-on Cloud and AI workshops across Africa, bridging the gap between academic theory and industry-ready skills.

From Tanzania is Fiqra Academy, founded by CEO Gerald Revocatus. The firm is creating a direct pipeline from digital skills training to employment for East African youth, with certifications that lead to real careers through their digital learning platform.

In collaboration with Deloitte, the accelerator provides technical training, strategic business planning, and ongoing AWS and Deloitte support to help mission-driven organisations scale.

Since 2023, the programme has supported more than 100 social entrepreneurs across 34 countries, bringing together a global community of social entrepreneurs who are working to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges across education, health and climate resilience.

“Africa’s representation in this cohort reflects what we’re seeing across the continent: a generation of founders who don’t wait for conditions to be perfect. They build anyway.

“Our role is to ensure they have access to the same world-class cloud and AI technology as any startup in Silicon Valley and the support to scale impact across borders,” the General Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa at AWS, Jyoti Ball, stated.