This assignment will provide you with a thorough understanding of the various types of vulnerabilities underlying causes, their identifying characteristics, the ways in which they are exploited, and potential mitigation strategies. You will also know how to apply fundamental security design principles during system design, development, and implementation to minimize vulnerabilities.

There are numerous vulnerability assessment tools and techniques available to PEN testers for mapping (discovering) known vulnerabilities.

An integral phase of penetration testing is to perform vulnerability scanning to an organization’s hosts in order to identify possible flaws and attack vectors and then patch them.

1. Using GCU Approved Virtualization Solution and OpenVAS and Kali Linux VM, perform a vulnerability assessment on two or more virtual machine targets.
2. Document findings under Phase Testing in the “PEN Testing Report Guidelines,” located in the Course Materials. Refer to the SANS Institute industry-standard “Writing a Penetration Testing Report,” for examples of PEN Testing Reports.
3. Append this assignment to the PEN testing report and resubmit the report (Passive Corporate Recon + Automating Information RECON + NMap Scan + Vulnerability Assessment).

In a 500- to 750-word essay, research three to five critical vulnerability taxonomies discovered in your vulnerability assessment for possible flaws, exploits, or attack vectors.

1. For each flaw, exploit, or attack vector discovered, document recommendations for successful remediation.
2. Describe how the vulnerability assessment you performed will help in understanding how a vulnerability in a given context may be applied to alternative contexts, and how adapting vulnerabilities so that lessons from them can be applied to alternative contexts.
3. Could any of your discovered vulnerabilities be considered an advanced persistent threat (APT)?

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.