Automating the Generation of Windows Vulnerability Detection Content
With a plethora of cybersecurity threats on the horizon, it’s important that professionals have a common language for discussion and analysis. Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language (OVAL) is a key standard for helping cybersecurity professionals understand threats. OVAL defines configuration details, machine states, and assessments for measuring conformance. Since its inception, OVAL has been developed by a robust community of security professionals and volunteers.
A standout among the defensive controls community
Developing, maintaining, and updating security vulnerability definitions takes a wide-ranging team of volunteers. The language continues to remain open to anyone to use for their cybersecurity defenses.
Behind the scenes, a lot of effort goes into vulnerability definitions. Both individuals and teams participate in the OVAL community to help define technical vulnerabilities. There are always standouts among volunteer communities. When it comes to authoring Microsoft Windows vulnerability content, Joval Continuous Monitoring rose to the challenge. The Joval team contributed 612 new OVAL definitions in 2019 and 261 so far in 2020. These additions to the OVAL Repository will help secure organizations worldwide from known threats.
Joval’s expertise comes from experience in producing standards-based security assessment technology. Joval offers lightweight toolkits that enable ISVs, MSSPs, government agencies, and commercial enterprises around the globe to scan and assess devices in the datacenter, across the enterprise, and in the cloud.
Automating the way forward
Automation is essential for organizations looking to respond quickly to cyber threats. Working together with the community, Joval developed automation to speed the generation of future Windows content in OVAL. This automatically generated content puts security in the hands of the defenders who need it most, in a timely manner. It’s another fantastic resource in the information security toolbelt to help identify, assess, and defend against cyber vulnerabilities.
Flexibility meets configurations with SCAP
OVAL is widely used by tools validated by the Security Content Automation Protocol, or SCAP. These tools measure compliance and assess configurations in a standardized way. OVAL achieves this by leveraging Extensible Markup Language (XML), a format which is readable by both people and machines. SCAP-validated configuration assessment tools are relied upon by organizations around the globe to help comply with regulations and standards such as FISMA, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, and more.
It takes a team – are you in?
The continuing success of OVAL relies on an active, forward-thinking cybersecurity community. You can find more information about OVAL development at https://oval.cisecurity.org. If you have experience with configurations, standards development, or technical security, there’s a need for you in the OVAL community. Join today to network with cybersecurity professionals from leading government, academia, and industry organizations.