Web Vulnerability Scan — Known Issues and Dangerous Defaults
This scans a web server against a large database of known problems: vulnerable software versions, files that ship with common packages and should not be public, dangerous defaults, and misconfigurations with documented consequences. It is signature-driven rather than exploratory, which makes it fast and thorough on known issues.
Why run it
Because the majority of real compromises exploit something already documented rather than anything novel. Default installation files left in place, an administrative interface at a predictable path, a component several versions behind a published advisory — these are what automated attacks look for, and they are exactly what a signature scanner finds. It is the same view an opportunistic attacker has of your server, obtained deliberately.
Why automate it
The signature database grows continuously, so a clean scan means clean against what was known that day. New advisories are published constantly and apply retroactively to software you already run: nothing about your server changes, and it becomes vulnerable anyway. Rescanning on a schedule catches both that and the changes on your side — a component upgraded to a version with its own problems, a file redeployed. Only run it against systems you are responsible for; this is intrusive by design.
What it gives you
Coverage of the well-known problems that account for most opportunistic compromise. Scheduled, it keeps pace with a threat list that grows whether or not your infrastructure changes.