IBM Proventia Network Enterprise User Manual - Basic Concepts

Basic Concepts

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IBM Proventia Network Enterprise Scanner User Guide, Version 1.3

Basic Concepts

Introduction

This topic explains basic concepts about your Enterprise Scanner agent that you need to 

know before you begin. Keep these in mind as you work with the agent. If you have used 

the IBM ISS Internet Scanner application, some of the differences are significant. 

Types of scans

Enterprise Scanner runs the following types of scans:

Discovery separate 

from assessment

With Enterprise Scanner, discovery scans and assessment scans are separate for both ad 

hoc and background scans. You may, however, link scans so that an assessment scan does 

not run until the corresponding discovery scan has finished.

Scopes of scans 

The scopes of discovery and assessment scans are based on the following settings:

Type of Scan

Description

Ad hoc

One-time scans for discovery and/or for assessment.

Background

Recurring, cyclical scans that refresh your discovery and/or assessment 

information at user-defined intervals.

Table 15: Definitions of ad hoc and background scans

Type of Scan

Scope

Discovery

Operates on IP addresses—single and/or ranges—that you assign to the 

scan. 

Note: The group you use for discovery scans may already contain assets. 

Those assets do not have to belong to the IP range of the scan. 

Assessment

Operates on the assets in a group in the SiteProtector system.

Table 16: Scope of discovery and assessment scans