What do the results mean?
After performing an assessment task, Vulnerability Assessment displays the results. It displays all results based on the risk level that individual computers present to the network. Risk levels are determined according to the number of vulnerabilities and the severity of the vulnerabilities on each computer. The Total field displays the number of machines for which the deploy failed.
What is a vulnerability?
Vulnerabilities are defined as defects in a computer�s software that makes them prone to attacks by viruses and other malicious code. This includes defects that are due to unapplied security patches.
Example: Internet Explorer 5.5 has a vulnerability MS01-020. This vulnerability exists because Internet Explorer doesn�t correctly handle unusual MIME types. An attacker could create an email message and specify it was one of these MIME types. The NIMDA.A worm exploits this vulnerability. It spreads via an attachment embedded in an email. NIMDA can compromise network security and overwrite files in the system directory.
For a complete listing of all
the known vulnerabilities refer to the Trend Micro Web site at:
www.trendmicro.com/advisory
What is the security risk?
The security risk is an estimate of the risk that a machine attached to the network presents to the network. The number and severity of vulnerabilities that are located on the machine determines the overall security risk level.
All vulnerabilities that are known to be exploited by malicious code are automatically promoted to critical risk level.
The following are descriptions of security risk levels:
Highly critical � The computers in this task have at least one vulnerability with a highly critical damage potential. Additionally, they may have other vulnerabilities that present lower risk levels.
Example: The computer has the MS03-020 vulnerability which is exploited by WORM_KLEZ.H.
Critical � The computers in this task have at least one vulnerability with a critical damage potential. Additionally, they may have other vulnerabilities that present lower risk levels. They present an important risk level to network security.
Important � The computers in this task have at least one vulnerability with an important damage potential. Additionally, they may have other vulnerabilities that present lower risk levels.
Moderate� The computers in this task have at least one vulnerability with a moderate damage potential.
Risk free � These computers have no known vulnerabilities and present no risk to network security.
Deploy failed � This is the number of machines Vulnerability Assessment attempted to - but failed to - assess due to connection problems or incorrect login credentials. Refer to the Account Management Tool Tutorial for instructions about how to configure Vulnerability Assessment.
Example: An administrator configures Vulnerability Assessment using the Account Management Tool, but fails to enter a password for a machine that he or she wants to include in the tasks. When you create and run a task that includes this machine, the task will give a result of Deploy failed for that machine.