Not $5 trillion, not even $10 trillion, but a staggering $13.82 trillion; according to the latest statistics from the University of San Diego, that’s the expected yearly cost of cybercrime come 2028. In the U.S. alone, the cost of cybercrime amounted to $12.5 billion in 2023, a jaw-dropping increase of 22% from the previous year.
All those stats and figures further underscore the importance of cybersecurity, especially for businesses. One such protective measure is an external vulnerability scan.
To that end, the experts at EMPIST, our firm specializing in cybersecurity and managed IT services in Chicago, put together this comprehensive guide on external vulnerability scans. Read on to discover what they are, how they work, and why your business (regardless of its size) should invest in such measures.
Understanding External Vulnerability Scans
An external vulnerability scan is a cybersecurity assessment performed outside of a network. It targets specific IP addresses to identify vulnerabilities and potential threats.
Proactively detecting external vulnerabilities can help strengthen an organization’s defenses against cybercrimes and attacks. Some examples of risks and threats these scans can uncover include:
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
- Malware
- Ransomware
- Phishing
- Malvertising
- Drive-by attacks
- Session hijacking
Once the results are out, your business can determine the scope and severity of threats and vulnerabilities. Such knowledge enables you to prioritize the most critical ones and focus on remediating the most vulnerable systems.
How Does an External Vulnerability Scan Work?
An external vulnerability scan uses specialized vulnerability management tools and services to assess an organization’s IT infrastructure. It’s a multi-step IT security assessment that involves:
- Scanning and simulated attacks
- Results and reporting
- Implementation of remediation efforts
Let’s examine each step in more detail.
Scanning and Simulated Attacks
Scanning and conducting simulated attacks on external-facing systems are the initial steps in external vulnerability scans. Examples of external-facing systems include:
- IP addresses
- Domain names
- Web applications
- Mobile applications
- Other publicly exposed assets
Results and Reporting
After the scan, the specialized tools generate comprehensive reports. The findings include detailed information regarding:
- All identified vulnerabilities and threats
- The severity of the problems
- The potential impact of failing to address the vulnerabilities and threats
The report also recommends cybersecurity best practices and network security measures for mitigating the identified vulnerabilities.
Implementation of Remediation Efforts
Organizations can implement the provided cybersecurity recommendations based on the external vulnerability scan results. For example, they can take steps to minimize or address vulnerabilities, such as by:
- Patching vulnerabilities
- Updating software
- Reinforcing network perimeter
Investing in digital threat protection, primarily managed cybersecurity services, is another critical remediation step after identifying vulnerabilities. Examples of such security solutions include:
- Managed multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Enterprise security awareness and training
- Dark web monitoring
- Password management
- Patch management
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
- Spam and virus filtering
Why Does Your Business Need an External Vulnerability Scan?
An external vulnerability scan is crucial as it assesses the security posture of your business systems accessible from the internet. Knowing your IT infrastructure’s potential weaknesses and vulnerabilities lets you take the necessary steps to address them before attackers exploit them.
Preventing such exploitations can then benefit your business in the following ways.
Reduce the Likelihood of Costly Data Breaches and Cyber Attacks
According to an article by Risk Management Magazine, the global average cost of data breaches in 2024 amounted to $4.88 million. It represents an increase of 10% from the previous year. You may think that’s already massive, but it’s just about half of the average data breach cost in the U.S., which was $9.36 million.
Such data breaches don’t just occur among gigantic corporations, either. Contrary to popular belief, small businesses are also prime targets of cybercriminals and malicious hackers. Indeed, Infosecurity Magazine reported in October 2024 that eight in ten small businesses in the U.S. have already suffered a data breach.
Preventing data breaches is one of the primary goals of external vulnerability scans. Such scans are a proactive approach for your business to pinpoint and address security weaknesses and flaws in publicly accessible systems before criminals use them to their advantage.
Compliance With Regulations
Many industry regulations require businesses to perform regular vulnerability scans as part of their security compliance efforts. For instance, there’s the PCI DSS, which stands for Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). Failure to comply with the PCI DSS can result in severe consequences, including but not limited to:
- Humongous fines imposed by payment card brands and acquiring banks
- Increased transaction fees for credit card processing
- Loss of merchant accounts
- Exorbitant costs of investigating, resolving, and notifying customers about data breaches
- Damaged reputation and eroded customer trust
- Lost of clients and profits
- Increased risk of fraud
- Legal consequences, including lawsuits
So, if your organization must adhere to the PCI DSS, please ensure you never skip external vulnerability scans.
Cost-Effective Security
Vulnerability scanning is undoubtedly more cost-effective than dealing with the aftermath of a data breach. Moreover, it helps mitigate the potential financial consequences of new or emerging threats. Your business can take swift action to eliminate risks and vulnerabilities before they cause significant damage.
Enhanced Business Reputation
External vulnerability scans, primarily if used as a part of a more robust security program, can build trust with customers and stakeholders. Their implementation can demonstrate your business’s commitment to protecting their data.
On the other hand, being a hacking or cybercrime victim can result in your customers losing trust in your business. At the very least, they’ll likely abandon your organization and stop engaging with it. Worse, they may sue your company if the breach you suffered from also harms them.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
As you learned in this guide, an external vulnerability scan is integral to a robust cybersecurity program. Done correctly, it can help you spot and address vulnerabilities resulting from poor security affecting external-facing systems. The sooner you have experts conduct it, the sooner you can improve your organization’s security posture.
Let our team of highly skilled and experienced experts at EMPIST provide all your needed managed IT and cybersecurity services in Chicago. From external and vulnerability scans to EDRs, managed MFA, and security training, we deliver all these solutions and more. We have been a trusted provider of such exceptional services for nearly a quarter of a century and will happily provide the same to your firm.
Call us today to request your free consultation!