Unified Scan Engine for Security Assessment Synthesis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network security scanning technologies require manual synthesis of results from multiple tools, leading to inefficiencies and difficulties in generating comprehensive security assessments due to redundant checks and inconsistent data sets.
Innovation Solution
An asset management system and scan engines that identify and utilize specific language interpreters to perform scans, centralizing control and processing of scan results, and employing both network-based and host-based scan engines to aggregate and analyze data for comprehensive security assessments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate security scanning tools are deployed to perform comprehensive security assessments, then the coverage and depth of security testing are improved, but the complexity of managing and synthesizing results from these tools increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate security scanning tools into a unified scanning system that executes various security tests through a single platform. The unified scanner integrates vulnerability assessment, configuration checking, and security policy verification functions that previously required multiple independent tools, thereby simplifying result synthesis while maintaining comprehensive security coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The scanning system is designed as a universal platform capable of performing multiple types of security assessments through a single interface. It can execute vulnerability scans, configuration audits, and policy compliance checks using different scanning techniques and data sources, consolidating what previously required separate specialized tools into one multi-functional system
2Measurement precision
If multiple independent scanning tools are used to perform comprehensive security tests, then the depth of security analysis is improved, but the time required to process and synthesize results from multiple sources increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary organization and standardization of scan results as they are generated, rather than waiting until all scans are complete. Results from different scanning operations are pre-processed and normalized in real-time, preparing them for synthesis before the entire scanning campaign concludes, thereby reducing the final processing time while maintaining deep security analysis
3Ease of operation
If administrators manually synthesize results from multiple unrelated security tools, then flexibility in analysis is maintained, but productivity and efficiency of generating security reports decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated feedback loops that continuously process scan results and update security assessments in real-time. As scans complete, results are automatically synthesized, analyzed, and incorporated into comprehensive security reports without requiring manual intervention, thereby maintaining analytical flexibility through programmable logic while dramatically improving report generation efficiency
Data Source
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AI summary
A scan engine receives a request to perform a particular scan on at least a portion of a computing environment. The scan engine identifies a particular language interpreter in a set of available language interpreters for use in performing the particular scan and performs the particular scan using the particular language interpreter. The scan engine returns results of the particular scan. In some implementations, the scan engine is implemented on an agent enabling communication between the scan engine and an asset management system.