Question

A security analyst is planning a vulnerability scan of a manufacturing network segment containing legacy programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and human-machine interface (HMI) systems. During a prior scan, an aggressive active scan caused a PLC to become unresponsive, halting a production line. The analyst must map assets and identify vulnerabilities on this operational technology (OT) segment while minimizing the risk of disrupting production. Which scanning approach BEST meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Use passive network scanning to fingerprint assets from captured traffic, supplemented by manual review of vendor firmware advisories

Answer

Run a credentialed active scan with maximum thread concurrency during production hours to complete the assessment quickly

Answer

Perform an uncredentialed active scan with full port ranges and OS fingerprinting enabled against all PLC and HMI hosts

Answer

Deploy an agent-based scanner directly onto each PLC to continuously report installed software versions