-
createObject
Create a new vulnerability scan request. New scan requests are picked up every five minutes, and the time to complete an actual scan may vary. Once the scan is finished, it can take up to another five minutes for the report to be generated and accessible.
-
getAccount
The account associated with a security scan request.
-
getGuest
The virtual guest a security scan is run against.
-
getHardware
The hardware a security scan is run against.
-
getObject
getObject retrieves the SoftLayer_Network_Security_Scanner_Request object whose ID number corresponds to the ID number of the init parameter passed to the SoftLayer_Network_Security_Scanner_Request service. You can only retrieve requests and reports that are assigned to your SoftLayer account.
-
getReport
Get the vulnerability report for a scan request, formatted as HTML string. Previous scan reports are held indefinitely.
-
getRequestorOwnedFlag
Flag whether the requestor owns the hardware the scan was run on. This flag will return for hardware servers only, virtual servers will result in a null return even if you have a request out for them.
-
getStatus
A security scan request's status.
-
SoftLayer_Network_Security_Scanner_Request
The SoftLayer_Network_Security_Scanner_Request data type represents a single vulnerability scan request. It provides information on when the scan was created, last updated, and the current status. The status messages are as follows: *Scan Pending *Scan Processing *Scan Complete *Scan Cancelled *Generating Report.
-
SoftLayer_Network_Security_Scanner_Request
SoftLayer gives customers the ability to manage vulnerability scans for each of their servers. This service provides the ability to create a new scan request, view the status of a current request, and finally view the report of a finished scan.
A vulnerability scan attempts to find potential security problems on a server by first searching for open ports and the services that run on them. If any services are found the scanner will then check for version and patch information of each service found. Lastly, the scanner will use the information gathered to search its database of known vulnerabilities and generate a report. Reports typically take five to ten minutes to run but allow for up to thirty minutes in rare cases.
A vulnerability report will typically include the following information: *Number of security holes and warnings. *The hosts that were scanned. *The port/service and the corresponding issue. *Detailed information about the issue, risk factor, and possible fixes.
If you have a firewall, SoftLayer's administrative networks need to be allowed for the vulnerability scan to be effective. If a firewall is blocking all ports, the report may not show any problems even if some exist. In addition you may have some indication in your firewall logs of the scan taking place as ports on your system are investigated.