11.9 Conclusion

There are a number of effective vulnerability scanners in the marketplace today. As an educated security tester you need to remember two key pieces of information. First, select a tool that is appropriate for your organization and meets your needs in the areas of comprehensiveness, frequency of updates, speed, and types of operating systems and applications tested. Second, realize that vulnerability scanners are not the silver bullets of security testing. Vulnerability scanners are effective tools for helping to test systems and networks, but they cannot replace comprehensive security testing by a professional tester.