Vulnerability Scanning and Management in Reno

Vulnerability management means regularly scanning your systems for known weaknesses, ranking them by real-world risk and tracking each fix until it is done. We scan your internal network and internet-facing systems, tell you and your IT provider what to fix first, and confirm the fixes with rescans. It is included in SecurityPlus for Reno, Sparks and Carson City businesses.

Get a free assessment Included in SecurityPlus, $130/user/month
Why it matters

Attackers are scanning you already.

Exploiting a known vulnerability was the initial access step in 20 percent of breaches in Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, a 34 percent jump from the year before.1 Often the gap is simply that nobody knew a system was exposed, or the fix sat in a queue.

A one-time scan is a snapshot that goes stale the next time a laptop misses an update or someone opens a firewall port. Vulnerability management keeps watching.

Types of scans

What we scan.

  • External: internet-facing systems tied to your domains, including remote access portals and websites.
  • Internal: workstations, servers, printers and network gear inside your offices.
  • Authenticated: deeper scans that log in to see installed software and missing patches.
  • Web application: customer portals and web apps checked for common flaws.
  • Cloud configuration: Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and cloud settings that create exposure.
Scanning vs pen testing

Two different tools for two different questions.

Vulnerability scanning compared with penetration testing
FeatureVulnerability scanningPenetration testing
Question it answersWhat known weaknesses do we have?Can an attacker actually get in, and how far?
MethodAutomated, broadManual, targeted, chains weaknesses together
FrequencyFrequent and ongoingPeriodic, often annual
With usIncluded in SecurityPlusSold separately
From scan to fix

Prioritized by real-world risk, not raw scores.

A first scan of a small business network often returns a long list of findings. Handing that list to your IT provider helps nobody. We rank what matters.

  1. Discover

    Find the devices and services on your network, including the ones nobody remembered, because you cannot protect what you do not know about.

  2. Assess

    Run internal, external and authenticated scans and check cloud configurations.

  3. Prioritize

    Rank findings using severity (CVSS), whether the flaw is being exploited in the wild (CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog), and how exposed and important the affected system is.2

  4. Remediate and verify

    Share a short, ordered fix list with your IT provider, track each item and rescan to confirm it is closed.

Compliance

Scanning the rules require.

FTC Safeguards Rule

Unless you run continuous monitoring, the rule requires vulnerability assessments at least every six months plus an annual penetration test. Businesses with records on fewer than 5,000 consumers are exempt from this requirement.3

PCI DSS

Businesses that store, process or transmit card data need quarterly internal scans and quarterly external scans by an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV). Our internal scanning and remediation tracking support that work.

CMMC

Level 2 includes the NIST SP 800-171 requirement to scan for vulnerabilities periodically and remediate them according to risk.

Vulnerability management works best alongside our managed security services and zero trust security, which limit what an attacker can do with a weakness you have not patched yet.

Sources:
  1. Verizon, 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report
  2. CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog
  3. FTC, Safeguards Rule: What Your Business Needs to Know
Common questions

Vulnerability scanning FAQ

Vulnerability scanning is the automated process of checking your systems for known security weaknesses, such as missing patches, outdated software, weak configurations and exposed services. A scanner compares what it finds against databases of published vulnerabilities and produces a list of issues to fix.
The main types are external scans of internet-facing systems, internal scans of devices inside your network, authenticated scans that log in for a deeper view of installed software, web application scans that test websites and portals, and cloud configuration scans of services such as Microsoft 365 and cloud hosting.
Vulnerability scanning is automated, broad and frequent: it finds known weaknesses across all your systems. Penetration testing is manual, targeted and periodic: a tester tries to exploit weaknesses and chain them together the way an attacker would. Scanning tells you what might be exploitable; a penetration test shows what actually is.
Because attackers scan constantly. Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report found exploitation of vulnerabilities was the initial access step in 20 percent of breaches, up 34 percent from the prior year. Regular scanning finds the same weaknesses first, and regulations such as the FTC Safeguards Rule and PCI DSS require it.
The scanner discovers systems, identifies the software and services running on each one, and checks them against known vulnerabilities and insecure configurations. We then rank the results by real-world risk, filter out noise, and track each finding until it is fixed and a rescan confirms it.

Find out where your business is exposed.

Book a free, comprehensive cybersecurity risk assessment. See where your business is exposed and what to fix first. No cost, no contract.

Get a Free Assessment Call (775) 238-9281