Network Risk Assessment Tools

Communication Technology Advancements and Network Security

Communication technology advancements have propelled computers into the cyber era, when an increasing number of connected gadgets (the internet of things) are being used (IoT). According to Sandhya et al. (2017), the implication is that the conventional security issues that are typical of the internet have now been amplified on an unprecedented scale. As a result, there is now a greater need for cost-effective software tools that can identify and eliminate network threats. Among many more tools, among of these include Metaspoilt and Wireshark.

Metaspoilt: A Network Penetration Testing Tool

A network penetration testing tool called Metaspoilt can be used with both Windows and Linux-based operating systems (Rouached and Sallay, 2014). The risk assessment took functions primarily by allowing the user to develop and execute code against remote hosts residing on a network infrastructure. Essentially, the successful deployment of a payload and execution of the security exploit indicates the presence of bugs or vulnerabilities in a network. According to Rouached and Sallay (2014), Metaspoilt’s multipurpose modules have rendered it the most popular open-source network assessment tool. On the other hand, Wireshark is exclusively a packet analyzer for troubleshooting, analyzing, and developing communications protocols. It functions by configuring network interface controllers (NITs) into the “promiscuous mode” through which the security analysts detect visible and multicast traffic that does not pass through the NITs. Like its counterpart, Metaspoilt is a cross-platform tool (Sandhya et al., 2017).

Network Security Assessment Tools vs. Application Security Assessment Tools

Notably, the network security assessment tools differ from application security assessment tools regarding the network layers in which they operate. According to Zou et al. (2016), network security tools function at layers 1 to 6 (physical, data-link, network, transport, session, and presentation) of the OSI model. These tools assess commodities such as routers, firewalls, and the standard software on a network. On the contrary, application security tools are concerned with layer 7 – application later - where they examine the presence of vulnerabilities in custom or bespoke applications. Apart from vulnerability checks and penetration testing, other types of assessments include network audits and threat modeling (Zou et al., 2016).

References

Rouached, M., & Sallay, H. (2014). A service-oriented communication model for high-speed intrusion detection systems. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 17(3), 323-339.

Sandhya, S., Purkayastha, S., Joshua, E., & Deep, A. (2017, January). Assessment of website security by penetration testing using Wireshark. In Advanced Computing and Communication Systems (ICACCS), 2017 4th International Conference on (pp. 1-4). IEEE.

Zou, Y., Zhu, J., Wang, X., & Hanzo, L. (2016). A survey on wireless security: Technical challenges, recent advances, and future trends. Proceedings of the IEEE, 104(9), 1727-1765.