Network vulnerability scans allow you to pinpoint exposed services and vulnerabilities reachable from the outside across your servers, websites, and web applications. This guide shows you how to launch an on-demand network scan, examine the results, and produce an audit-ready report for your team.
Before starting, confirm that you have the IP address or hostname of the target system, along with your login credentials for the Unified Security Stack Vulnerability Scanner.
Running an On-Demand Scan
On-demand network scans work well for quick external evaluations of your infrastructure, including web application servers or DNS servers.
- 1
Log in to the scanner
In your browser, open the Unified Security Stack Vulnerability Scanner server. Provide the default credentials supplied by your installation team and click LoginVerify the primary dashboard opens correctly.
- 2
Create a new scan
From the main dashboard, go to the scan management area and pick the option for creating a new scan. Select On-demand scanning to launch the assessment at once.
- 3
Define your target
Provide the IP address or hostname of the target system (for instance, the IP of an IIS web server).
- 4
Verify and launch
Verify both the scanner server IP and the target IP for accuracy. After confirming them, begin the scan.
Understanding Scan Scope
Network scans show only what is visible from the external network. They do not examine software installed internally on the host. To scan internal host configurations, you will need to rely on an agent-based scan.
Reviewing and Managing Results
After your scan finishes, you should review the findings and update their statuses so your final reports are accurate.
flowchart TD
A[Run Network Scan] --> B[Review Findings]
B --> C[Update Vulnerability Statuses]
C --> D[Export Audit Report]- 1
Open the scan results
Go to your scan list and click the completed scan to view its details.
- 2
Review the findings
Review the complete list of identified vulnerabilities. Click each finding to read its brief description and see exactly what is exposed to the outside network.
- 3
Update vulnerability statuses
Click every vulnerability to change its status. Before you create any reports, these statuses must be accurate so your team can focus only on items that need fixing.
- 4
Export the report
Use the export feature to create a final report. Apply a filter so the report contains only relevant, unresolved items. You can then give this exported document to auditors or system engineers as the official record for remediation tracking.
Vulnerability Status Definitions
When updating your findings in Step 3, use the following statuses to categorize each vulnerability:
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Open / Unresolved | The vulnerability is active, exposed, and needs remediation from your engineering team. |
| Resolved | This problem has already been resolved or patched. |
| Mitigated | The vulnerability is present, but compensating security controls prevent exploitation. |
| False Positive | The scanner reported an issue that does not exist in reality or does not apply to your specific environment. |
Always mark known false positives and mitigated items before exporting. This keeps your reports tidy and stops engineers from spending time on non-issues.
Next Steps
If you need deeper insight into the software and configurations inside your servers, a network scan alone will not be enough. Think about implementing agent-based scanning.