Vulnerability Management

Training Labs

All Material contained herein is the Intellectual Property of Qualys and cannot be
reproduced in any way, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise,
without the express written consent of Qualys, Inc.

Please be advised that all labs and tests are to be conducted within
The parameters outlined within the text. The use of other domains or IP addresses is
prohibited.

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Prerequisites/System Requirements ......................................................................................................... 4
LAB 1 Account Setup (15-20 min.) ................................................................................................................ 5
Personalize Your Account ................................................................................................................................ 9
Context Sensitive Help/Online Manual ................................................................................................... 12
Add IP Assets to Your Account ................................................................................................................... 13
LAB 2: KnowledgeBase Search List (15 min.) ........................................................................................... 16
LAB 3: Mapping (30 min.) .................................................................................................................................. 20
Mapping Targets ............................................................................................................................................... 20
Add Mapping Target ........................................................................................................................................ 21
View and Use Map Results ............................................................................................................................ 24
Additional Exercises ........................................................................................................................................ 27
LAB 4: Assets (30 min.) ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Asset Group ......................................................................................................................................................... 31
Asset Tagging ..................................................................................................................................................... 38
AssetView ............................................................................................................................................................. 40
Additional Exercises ........................................................................................................................................ 47
AssetView Dashboard ..................................................................................................................................... 51
LAB 5: Vulnerability Scan (30 min.) .............................................................................................................. 54
Trusted Scanning .............................................................................................................................................. 55
Additional Exercises ........................................................................................................................................ 61
LAB 6: Reporting (30 min.) ............................................................................................................................... 63
High Severity Report ....................................................................................................................................... 63
Selective Vulnerability Reporting ............................................................................................................. 64
Patch Report ....................................................................................................................................................... 67
Additional Exercises ........................................................................................................................................ 73
LAB 7: User Management (10 min.) .............................................................................................................. 77
Create User Account ........................................................................................................................................ 77
LAB 8: Remediation (15 min.) ......................................................................................................................... 79
A Final Note Account Setup ........................................................................................................................... 81
Contacting Support .......................................................................................................................................... 87
3

Introduction
The Vulnerability Management application will provide you and your organization with the tools and
features needed to successfully manage and mitigate vulnerabilities. When you complete all of the
exercises in this lab document you will be able to:
1. Map the Network
2. Manage Host Assets
3. Scan the Network
4. Report on Scans
5. Manage User Accounts
6. Remediate Risk
Please do not skip any of the required lab exercise steps, as they will be needed to complete other lab
exercises later. Some labs contain a section called Additional Exercises that can be performed any
time, at your own convenience.

Prerequisites/System Requirements

To perform the exercises in this lab, you will need:
1. Qualys Account
2. Web Browser

Internet Explorer 9, 10, 11, or greater

Mozilla Firefox (latest version from stable release channel)
Google Chrome (latest version from stable release channel)
Safari (latest version)

3. Java Browser Plug-in

4. Adobe Acrobat Reader or comparable
Tip: Your browsers Pop-up Blocking configuration can interfere with the proper functioning of the Qualys
User Interface. Please modify the settings of your Web browser to:
1. Allow all pop-ups (less secure), or
2. allow pop-ups from qualys.com (more secure)

LAB 1 Account Setup (15-20 min.)

This lab will address a few steps needed to setup your Qualys user account and the Vulnerability
Management application. These steps will make it possible to complete the remaining lab exercises in
this document.

Login to Qualys
Your Qualys instructor will provide you with a URL to download your demo account credentials.

1. Open the demo account file (yourName.pdf) provided by your Qualys instructor.
2. Record the USERNAME from this document and save it in a safe place (e.g., text document or
password manager).
**The period at the end of the sentence is NOT a part of the USERNAME.
3. Click the ONE TIME link to view the password page. The one time link is designed to prevent
others from viewing your password information; it will not work a second time.

4. Record the PASSWORD from this document and save it in a safe place (e.g., text document or
password manager).

5. Use the link provided in the password document to login and activate your Qualys demo
account.

6. Select the check box to accept the Service User Agreement and click the I Agree button.
A pop-up window will list the features and benefits provided by the New Data Security Model:
The New Data Security Model (NDSM) combines high performance disk encryption with Virtual Private
Database (VPD) technology to ensure that your data is only visible and accessible to authorized users
(i.e., users within your account subscription) that have valid authentication credentials.
The NDSM also provides advanced productivity and detection features:

7. Click the Enable Now button.

Quick Start Guide

A successful login will display the Qualys Welcome screen and Quick Start Guide.

Although the Quick Start steps will not be used in this lab, you can always display these steps again by
clicking on your Qualys User ID (to the right of the Help button) and selecting the Quick Start Guide
option.

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Personalize Your Account

The steps that follow will help to personalize your student user account, and make other adjustments
that will provide a more effective training environment.

1. Click on your Qualys User ID (located just to the right of the Help button) and select User Profile.

General Information

2. Change the First Name field and Last Name field to reflect your own name.
3. Update the E-mail Address field with your current e-mail address (all notifications and password
reset information will be sent to the address you provide).

Notification Options
All notification
options will be
sent to the e-
mail address
specified in the
General
Information
section.

4. Use the navigation pane (left) to select Options, and leave all Scan and Map options turned on.
5. Click the My reports radio button to activate notification for reports that you create.

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Modify Security Preferences

1. Navigate to A) the Users section, click B) the Setup tab, and click C) the Security dialog.

2. Scroll down and ensure that the New Data Security Model has been enabled.

Select the acceptance checkbox, if you have NOT yet enabled the NDSM.
3. Increase your Session Timeout value to the maximum (240 min.) This adjustment will help you
to maintain an ACTIVE session throughout the entire training class.
4. Click the Save button, followed by the Close button.

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Context Sensitive Help/Online Manual

Online help is available for all Qualys applications and for everything in the User Interface.

1. Click on the Help button in the upper right hand corner, and select the Online Help option.

The Search option will help you to find specific topics, and provide links to helpful Qualys videos.

The Contents option will provide you with a start-to-finish explanation of Vulnerability Application
tasks and features.

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Add IP Assets to Your Account

The next few steps will add some initial host assets to your account
Host Tracking
Three basic methods are available for tracking the vulnerability history of each host within your
subscription:

Host IP Address
Host DNS Name
Host NetBIOS Name

The objective is to choose the tracking method for each host that provides the greatest consistency over
time (i.e., the tracking method that does not change).

DNS Tracked Hosts

1. Navigate to 1) the Assets section, and then click on 2) the Host Assets tab.
2. Click the New button, and select the option to track each host by its DNS name. Tracking by DNS
name will maintain host history data even if the IP address changes.

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3. Click the Host IPs section (left navigation pane) and type the following IP address range into the
IPs: field: 64.41.200.233-64.41.200.236 (DO NOT USE COPY AND PASTE).
4. Click the Add button, to add all four IP addresses to your account.

Important Notice about your student account
Using your student account, you have permission to scan only the demo IP addresses identified in
this lab document. You do not have permission to scan any other IP addresses and/or web
applications using your student account.
5. Click the OK button to acknowledge your scanning permission.
Best Practice - Before you start scanning with Qualys, always be sure to get approval to scan IP
addresses and/or web applications. It is your responsibility to obtain this approval.

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NetBIOS Tracked Hosts

6. Navigate to 1) the Assets section, 2) the Host Assets tab, click the New button and select 3)
NetBIOS Tracked Hosts. Tracking by NetBIOS name will maintain host history data even if the IP
address changes.

7. Click the Host IPs section and type the following IP address ranges into the IPs: field:
64.41.200.231, 64.41.200.232, 64.41.200.237, 64.41.200.238 (DO NOT
USE COPY AND PASTE).
8. Click the Add button, to add all four IP addresses to your account.
9. Click the OK button to acknowledge your scanning permission.

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LAB 2: KnowledgeBase Search List (15 min.)

A Search List is an extension of the Qualys KnowledgeBase, and is one of the most powerful
customization tools within the Vulnerability Management application. The name Search List is derived
from the KnowledgeBase Search tool that is often used to create a list of vulnerabilities.
A Dynamic Search list is automatically updated by the Qualys service. Vulnerabilities that match the
lists criteria are added, at the same time they are added to the Qualys KnowledgeBase. A Static Search
list does not receive automatic updates. Typically, static lists are used to collect vulnerabilities that do
not have a common criteria.

Add a Search List to an Option Profile, to perform a very accurate and precise vulnerability scan.
Add a Search List to a Report Template to create a Patch Report for High Risk vulnerabilities.
Create a Remediation Policy that automatically ignores Low Risk vulnerabilities, or assign
Windows OS vulnerabilities to the Windows team lead, and set a deadline for timely patching.

Search List Library

Qualys has created a library of some very useful vulnerability Search Lists.

1. Use your mouse to navigate to 1) the Search Lists tab, click 2) the New button, and 3) select the
Import from Library option.

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2. Click the top-level check box to select all lists in the library.
3. Click the Import button.

The Global option allows you to control the visibility of the objects you create or import. If you
make an object Global it will be visible to other users (Scanners, Readers, etc) within your Qualys
subscription.
4. Click the Dont Make Global button.

Create Dynamic Search List

Objective: create a list of Low Risk vulnerabilities (i.e., severity 1 and 2) that have a potentially HIGH
remediation cost (i.e., potential with no patch). Later, during the Remediation lab exercises, you will use
this custom list to create a Policy to ignore these Low Risk High Cost vulnerabilities.
1. Navigate to any of the three Search Lists tabs (you will find one within the Scans, Reports,
and KnowledgeBase sections. All three tabs perform the same function.
2. Click the New button and select the Dynamic List option.

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3. In the Title section, give it the name Low Severity Vulns (Sev. 1 and 2) no patch.

4. Select List Criteria in the navigation pane. Scroll down and select the No Patch Solution check
box. Vulnerabilities that do not have a patch solution typically take more time to mitigate, and
therefore cost more to resolve than vulnerabilities that already have a patch.

5. Scroll down and choose Levels 1 and 2 for Potential Severities. Remember: while these
vulnerabilities have a low impact, individually; collectively they can lead to a potential compromise.
6. Save the List.
This list of Low Impact vulnerabilities will provide a good resource later, when you build a
Remediation Policy that demonstrates the steps for ignoring a list of vulnerabilities.

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Personalize the KnowledgeBase

The Qualys KnowledgeBase provides the most current and comprehensive vulnerability and threat
intelligence information. The next few steps will help you to personalize the KnowledgeBase settings.

1. Go to the KnowledgeBase tab.
2. Click on the

icon, and add the Severity column to your default view.

3. Change the number of rows you can view to the maximum value.

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LAB 3: Mapping (30 min.)

Map reports are very useful tools when managing all host assets within your company or enterprise
architecture. Only mapping provides discovery data that will allow you to distinguish between
authorized and unauthorized hosts. When used properly, mapping will give you the ability to add a new
hosts to your Vulnerability Management subscription, approve other hosts that will not be added to
your subscription, and even find rogue devices within your network.

Mapping Targets
Unless you manage a limited number of hosts, it is considered a best practice to map you network or
enterprise architecture in small segments. You can accomplish this task using any of the basic mapping
targets:

Asset Group
Domain
Netblock

Understanding the proper use of mapping targets will lead to the creation of successful map reports.

Asset Group
Although Asset Groups will be defined in detail later, within the Asset Management lab, a couple of key
points are required here in the discussion of mapping:

Asset Groups only contain hosts that have already been added to your Vulnerability
Management subscription.

The Domains and IPs checkboxes are used only when an Asset Group has been selected as a
target.

Domain
Another target option for mapping involves using a domain name. A domain name must be added to
the Domains tab, before it can be used as a target for mapping. Basic DNS reconnaissance is used to
collect information from a domain target. Additionally, TCP, UDP, and ICMP probes are used to validate
the DNS reconnaissance findings.

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Netblock
A netblock must also be added to the Domains tab, before it can be used as a mapping target. The
none Domain is a special domain, used to add netblocks to the Domains tab. Various probes such as
TCP, UDP, and ICMP are used to locate LIVE hosts within the targeted netblock.

Add Mapping Target

In order to use any of the target types listed above, it must first be added to your account. The
Domains tab is used for the purpose of adding mapping targets to the Vulnerability Management
application (Asset Groups are the exception).

1. Navigate to the 1) Assets section, 2) Domains tab, click on the 3) New button and select the
Domain option.

2. Add the following netblock to the Domains field:
none:[64.41.200.231-64.41.200.250]
DO NOT USE COPY AND PASTE (there is no blank space in the none domain).
The none domain can be used to target any netblock within your organization. Notice that the
netblock listed above contains two more IP addresses than the number of IPs already within your
subscription. It is a Best Practice recommendation to add all reserved IP address netblocks (RFC 1918)
to the none domain.

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Launch Map
In the next few exercise steps, you will use the none domain target to create a Map Report of the
hosts within the Qualys Training Network.

1. Use your mouse to navigate to the 1) Scans section, 2) Maps tab, click on the 3) New button
and select the Map option.

2. In the Title field type: Qualys Training Network.
3. Leave the Option Profile set to: Initial Options (default).
4. Under Target Domains click the Select link just to the right of the Domains/Netblocks field.

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5. Check the none Domain and click the Add button.
6. Click the Launch button to begin mapping. It is normal for your map task to display the
Queued status, before changing to the Running status.

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View and Use Map Results

When a map reaches the Finished status, you may view its results. Do not attempt to view map
results while the Status column displays the Queued or Running status.

1. To view your finished map results, open the Quick Action menu and select the View Report
option.

2. Scroll down to the Results to view the hosts that were discovered.
Each host is identified by its IP address and name (DNS or NetBIOS). If Basic Information
Gathering is enabled the map will also provide Router and OS information.
The columns that appear on the right side of the report are used to identify authorized hosts (A),
scannable hosts (S), live hosts (L), and netblock hosts (N). A host is considered scannable if it has
already been added to your Vulnerability Management subscription. The netblock symbol is only
relevant when a netblock is selected as the mapping target.
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3. Click the arrow icon

to the left of a host to view its discovery method.

Notice there may be some host(s) that are outside of the IP range you mapped. They are not
members of the target netblock. They have typically discovered via traceroute. Hosts inside the IP
range you mapped were discovered in various ways (common TCP ports, UDP ports, and/or ICMP).

Actions Menu
The Actions drop-down menu is provided to perform various actions on any host that appears in the
Map Results.
The key to using a map report is: 1) use a checkbox to select a host, 2) choose an action from the
Actions menu, and 3) click the Apply button.
The next set of exercises will walk you through the steps of adding new hosts to your Vulnerability
Management subscription, adding several hosts to a new Asset Group, and launching an initial
vulnerability scan.

Add Hosts to Subscription

Hosts demo9 and demo10 cannot be scanned for vulnerabilities, until they are added to your
Vulnerability Management subscription.
1. Place a check next to host demo9 (64.41.200.239) and host demo10 (64.41.200.240).
2. Use the Actions menu to select the Add to Subscription action, and click the Apply button.
3. Click the Add button to confirm your IP address selection.
4. Click the OK button to confirm your permission to scan.

Create New Asset Group

Although Asset Groups can be created and managed from the Assets section (Asset Groups tab), it is
relatively easy to create and manage Asset Groups from a Map Report.
Looking at the DNS column, it is easy to see that many hosts are located in San Jose (SJC)
1. Place a check next to the following range of IPs: 64.41.200.231-64.41.200.240.
2. Use the Actions menu to select the Add to new Asset Group action, and click the Apply
button.
3. In the Asset Group Title field type: San Jose, and click the Save button.
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Launch Initial Scan

To collect some initial scan data that will be used in the Asset Management lab, the Map Report will be
used to complete one final task; launch a vulnerability scan.

1. Place a check next to all ten hosts that are now in your Vulnerability Management subscription
(64.41.200.231 64.41.200.240).
2. Use the Actions menu to select the Launch Vulnerability Scan action, and click the Apply
button.
3. In the scan Title field type: Initial Vulnerability Scan.
4. Leave the Option Profile field and IPs/Ranges field set to their default values, and click the
Launch button.
5. When the Scan Status window appears, click the Close button.
6. Close the Map Results (File > Close).

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Additional Exercises
You may perform all Additional Exercises at your own convenience. Other lab exercises in this
document are not dependent on the outcome of these exercises.

Scheduled Maps
You can use differential reporting to compare two maps to identify new hosts introduced into the
network, as well as retired hosts that have been removed.
Reporting like this relies on having regular snapshots of the network from which to make a comparison.
The next lab steps are designed to schedule a Map Report to run every day.

1. Navigate to the 1) Scans section, 2) Maps tab, click the 3) New button and select the
Schedule Map option.
2. Configure the schedule with the following details:

Title: Daily Map
Option Profile: Initial Options (default)
Target Domains: none:[64.41.200.231-64.41.200.240]
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Scheduling: Start the scheduled task at a future date and time (time zone is required)
Occurs: Daily
3. Click Save.

Export and View Map Results

Any Map Report can be downloaded using multiple file format options. Additionally, all maps can be
viewed in a Graphic mode.
1. Navigate to the Maps tab within the Scans section.
2. Use the Quick Actions menu to open up and view a Map that you have already created.

3. While viewing the map results, click the File menu and select the Download option.

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Experiment with different file formats. A CSV file can be easily imported into a spreadsheet.

4. While viewing the same map results, click the View menu and then select the Graphic Mode
option.

5. Use the filters on the left to locate the Windows assets in the map results (right). Experiment with
different OS options.
6. Click the icon over any host to view its information in the preview pane.
You can also toggle the Summary and Results tabs at the top of the window to view a list of
assets discovered in the map.

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LAB 4: Assets (30 min.)

There are many ways to organize the host assets within the Vulnerability Management application.
Here are just a few examples:

Geographical location
Service provided
Device type or operating system
Responsible operational team
Asset owner
IP address
Business impact

Although the methods listed above are commonly used, it is important to recognize that every company
is unique, and your company may choose to organize and manage its host assets using methods or
techniques that others do not even consider.
The proper use of Asset Groups and Asset Tags will allow you to effectively organize and manage host
assets within the Vulnerability Management application.
Both Asset Groups and Asset Tags can be combined to accomplish numerous objectives, such as:

Creating targets for mapping, scanning, reporting, and remediation.

Assigning access privileges to individual user accounts.
Host identification and inventory management.

This lab will begin with a discussion of Asset Groups, continues with a discussion on Asset Tagging
features and characteristics, and ends with the use of AssetView.
With AssetViews search capabilities, you can query your most up-to-date host data instantaneously in
the Qualys Platform. It enables you to build dynamic, customizable dashboards which give you easy and
immediate visibility into your IT and security data.

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Asset Group
Asset Groups are the original mechanism for managing assets within the Vulnerability Management
application. Asset Groups provide containers for collecting host assets. Simply create an Asset Group,
give it a name that reflects its host members, and add the appropriate host IP addresses. Here are some
important characteristics of an Asset Group:
Used to assign access privileges (IPs, scanners, and domains) to individual user accounts.
Contain a Business Impact attribute that is used to calculate Business Risk.
Can be used as a target for mapping, scanning, reporting, and remediation.
A single host IP address can be a member of multiple Asset Groups.
Nesting one Asset Group inside another is not supported.*
Created and updated manually.*
* The last two items in this list, will be addressed through the use of Asset Tags. Asset Tags are updated automatically and dynamically
with every vulnerability scan. Asset Tag nesting is the recommended approach for designing functional Asset Tag hierarchies
(parent/child relationships).

Edit Asset Group

The Mapping lab demonstrated that Asset Groups can be created and updated from within an Asset
Map Report. In this lab, Asset Groups will be managed from within the Asset Groups tab (found within
the Assets section).
1. Navigate to the 1) Assets section, and click on the 2) Asset Groups tab.

2. Use the Quick Actions menu to Edit the San Jose Asset Group.

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To assign a domain to an individual user, the domain must first be associated with an Asset Group,
and then the Asset Group must be assigned to the target user.

3. From the navigation pane click the Domains option and use the Available domains drop-down
menu to associate the none domain with the San Jose Asset Group.
With the domain association complete, any user that receives access to the San Jose Asset Group,
will also receive access to the none domain (for mapping purposes).
Business Impact
Some hosts are more important than others. While both printers and database servers represent
legitimate attack vectors within you network, your time is typically best spent fixing a critical
vulnerability on your DBMS one that could be used to steal critical data rather than a
vulnerability that can take a networked printer off-line.
With this in mind, Asset Groups contain a Business Impact setting. Set it up now, and itll pay
dividends later under Reporting where well use it to identify real Business Risk.
4. From the navigation pane, select the Business Info option.

5. Use the Business Impact drop-down menu to change the San Jose Asset Group to Medium.
6. Click the View Link (just right of Business Impact).

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Business Risk is the product of the Average Security Risk (represented by the various severity
levels associated with each vulnerability) and the Asset Groups Business Impact setting.
Notice that the vulnerabilities discovered on host assets that belong to an Asset Group with a
Critical or High Business Impact setting, will carry a higher Business Risk score than hosts in the
San Jose Asset Group (Business Impact = MEDIUM), while vulnerabilities discovered on host assets
that belong to Asset Groups with a Minor or Low Business Impact setting will carry a lower
Business Risk Score.
7. Click the Close button.
8. Click the Save button to save your changes to the San Jose Asset Group.

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New Asset Group

To expand the illustration of Business Impact and Business Risk, the next set of exercises will create two
new Asset Groups with different Business Impact Settings.
The first Asset Group will contain production servers that have a critical impact.

1. From the Asset Groups tab click the New button and select the Asset Group option.

2. In the Asset Group Title field type: Server.

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3. From the navigation pane select the IPs option, and click the Select IPs/Ranges link.

4. Click the Expand Range icon to view all IPs in your subscription.
5. Check the following IP addresses (6):

64.41.200.232

64.41.200.233

64.41.200.235

64.41.200.236

64.41.200.239

64.41.200.240

6. Click the Add button

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7. From the navigation pane select the Business Info option, and change the Business Impact
field of the Server Asset Group to Critical.
8. Click the Save button to save the Server Asset Group.

The next new Asset Group will contain desktop computers that have a low impact.
1. From the Assets Group tab click the New button and select the Asset Group option.

2. In the Asset Group Title field type: Desktop.

3. From the navigation pane select the IPs option, and click the Select IPs/Ranges link.
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4. Click the Expand Range icon to view all IPs in your subscription.
5. Check the following IP addresses (4):

64.41.200.231

64.41.200.234

64.41.200.237

64.41.200.238

6. Click the Add button

7. From the navigation pane select the Business Info option, and change the Business Impact
field of the Desktop Asset Group to Low.
8. Click the Save button to save the Desktop Asset Group.

Three Asset Groups have been created: San Jose, Desktop, and Server. All three asset groups will
automatically be converted into Asset Tags by the Qualys service (see Asset Tag section).

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Asset Tagging
With IT and systems environments that are constantly fluctuating (e.g., mobile devices, virtualization,
cloud-based services, remote employees, etc) its imperative to have a sound method to track host
assets. Knowing what assets exist, improves the chances of securing them.
Asset Tags were designed to provide a flexible, scalable, and dynamic solution to manage assets, based
on scan results obtained using the Vulnerability Management application. As the Vulnerability
Management application processes data from each scan, it will also automatically and dynamically add
tags to various assets, and update or remove tags that already exist.
Asset Tags are organized into hierarchical structures, also known as parent/child relationships. A single
host asset can simultaneously have multiple tags. For example, a host can have a tag because its
located in Chicago, it belongs to the 10.1.2.0/24 net block, and has SSH running on it.

Asset Search
During a scan, the Qualys scanning engine gathers information from targeted hosts, including each
hosts operating system, open ports, and active services. The Asset Search feature provides you with the
ability to search through scan results and find hosts based on this type of information. This same
feature can also be used to create tags.

1. Navigate to the 1) Assets section, and then click on the 2) Asset Search tab.

2. In the Search for section, type All in the Asset Groups field. The All Asset Group is built-in
to the Qualys platform, and contains all host assets that have been added to your Vulnerability
Management subscription.

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3. In the attributes section, select the Running Services checkbox and then select the smtp
option to find all host running the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol; mail servers.
4. Click the Create Tag button.
5. Type Mail Server, when prompted to Enter a name for your Asset Tag and click the OK
button.
Watch for the following pop-up message:

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AssetView
AssetView is a free, asset inventory service, providing a continuously updated inventory of asset details.
It scales to millions of assets, and allows you to query data about those assets quickly and easily. Its a
centralized spot for viewing all of your asset details, creating asset tags, querying asset data, and
managing customizable dynamic dashboards, all within the Qualys Cloud Platform.
While the Asset Search feature in Vulnerability Management provides a simple way to create Asset Tags
from within the Vulnerability Management application, the real power and benefit of creating custom
Assets Tags is found within AssetView.
As you complete the exercises that follow, please note that some lag time may occur between the point
where an Asset Tag is initially created and the point where it is eventually applied to its respective
asset(s). The same lag time may exist between the point where a host is added to the Vulnerability
Management application, and the point where it appears in the AssetView application.

1. From the Vulnerability Management application, use the application drop-down menu to switch
to the AssetView application.
The landing page will be on the Dashboard section of AssetView. You will utilize Dashboards later
in the lab.

2. Navigate to the Assets section and the Assets tab.
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This page (i.e., Assets tab) of the AssetView application provides many useful pieces of
information:

Qualys creates a matching Asset Tag for every Asset Group.

Hosts running SMTP are tagged with the Mail Server tag (created using Asset Search).
Operating system information is identified for each host.
You can use the Quick Action menu for any host to View host details (e.g., demo02).

The same Tag Tree information can be accessed from the Tags tab.

3. Navigate to the Tags tab.

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Create Custom Tag

The previous set of exercise steps illustrated some examples of Asset Tags created by the Vulnerability
Management application:

Asset Tags matching Asset Groups

Asset Tags created with Asset Search

To take full advantage of the power and benefit of Asset Tagging, custom Asset Tags will now be created
within the AssetView application.
Static Tag: Operating System
Many tag hierarchies begin with some type of static parent that serves as a placeholder for its
dynamic children tags. This principle will be demonstrated with a static, parent called: Operating
System.

1. From the Tags tab, click the New Tag button.

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2. Name this tag: Operating System.
3. Select the color of your choice.
4. In the Description field type: Operating System Hierarchy Parent Tag.
5. Click the Continue button.

6. Leave the Rule Engine field set to No Dynamic Rule. This is typical for top level tags that form
the parent tag of a new hierarchy.
7. Click the Continue button, followed by the Finish button.
The Operating System tag should now be viewable in the Tag Tree.
The steps that follow will add two children to the Operating System hierarchy. Both children will be
nested under the Operating System parent, and both will use dynamic rules.

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Dynamic Tag: Windows

1. From the Tags tab, click the New Tag button.
2. Name this tag: Windows.
3. Select a color.
4. Click the Select link, followed by the Browse tags icon

5. Click on the Operating System tag to select it as the Parent tag.
6. Click the Continue button.

7. Select the Operating System Regular Expression Rule Engine.
8. In the Regular Expression field, type windows and then select the Ignore Case check box.
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9. Try testing this rule against host assets in your account. Hosts running the Windows OS should
receive a positive result (green ball w/ check). All others should receive a negative result (red X).
10. Select the Re-evaluate rule on save check box.
11. Click the Continue button, followed by the Finish button.

Dynamic Tag: Linux

1. From the Tags tab, click the New Tag button.
2. Give this tag a name of Linux.
3. In the Tag Properties section, select a color.
4. Click the Select link, followed by the Browse tags icon

5. Click on the Operating System tag to select it as the Parent tag.
6. Click the Continue button.
7. Select the Operating System Regular Expression Rule Engine.
8. In the Regular Expression field, type linux and then select the Ignore Case check box.
9. Try testing this rule against host assets in your account. Hosts running a Linux-based OS should
receive a positive result (green ball w/ check). All others should receive a negative result (red X).
10. Select the Re-evaluate rule on save check box.
11. Click the Continue button, followed by the Finish button.
Any of the dynamic tagging rule engines can be used to automatically assign tags to host assets.
While the demo lab has a limited number of hosts, imagine the benefit of using Asset Tags to
manage hundreds, thousands, and even millions of dynamically changing host assets!
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How would you take advantage of the Asset Name Contains, ruledoes your company use
standard naming conventions that identify host location, host owner, or other host attributes?

How would you take advantage of the Software Installed rulewould it be useful to know
when new applications or services are added to an existing host?

How would you take advantage of the Vuln (QID) Exists rulecould you use this tag rule to
quickly identify hosts that have the Heartbleed or Shellshock vulnerabilities?

Once Asset Tags have been applied to host assets, Smart Search within the AssetView application can be
used to navigate through an ocean of host data, to locate a specific type of host.
The steps covered in this lab provide many different examples for managing and tracking host assets
within your Qualys subscription. You now have many different choices, when choosing targets for
vulnerability scanning, reporting, and remediation tasks.

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Additional Exercises
Search
AssetView provides a very powerful method to query all of your asset data in one location. You can
search through all of the asset data obtained via your scans and Cloud Agents using its search capability.
AssetView enables you to export your query results, view them in a topological graph, or build widgets
from your queries in your own Dashboard.

1. Navigate to the Assets section and the Assets tab, to utilize AssetViews search capabilities.

2. Begin typing operatingSystem into the Search field.

3. Click on operatingSystem in the dropdown options you are provided.

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4. Type Windows (without quotes), and press the Enter key on your keyboard. Your results from
your search will be provided immediately.

5. Under the Group asset by dropdown menu, select Operating Systems.

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This will give you a breakdown of all of your different Windows Operating Systems based on
information collected from your Vulnerability Management Scans and Cloud Agents.

6. Click the View Network Graph icon to view a topology of your assets from these search results.
You can click on assets from within the graphical representation and view their details.

7. Once done viewing the graphic, close the topology view.

8. Click the save link above the Search box.

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9. Give it a Search Title of Windows Assets and check the boxes next to Add this search to your
favorites and Share this search with others.

This gives you the ability to come back to your searches you use often, without having to retype the
whole search. By sharing with others, other users will also be able to use your saved query.

10. Click on Saved Searches and view your recently saved search.

11. Replace your existing search with the following query:

operatingSystem:linux and vulnerabilities.vulnerability.patchAvailable:"true"

This will find all of your Linux systems that also have vulnerabilities where there is a patch available.

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12. Click on Linux 2.6 to view your specific assets.

13. Use the Save As link to save this as Patchable Linux Assets as well as Add this search to
your favorites.

14. Click Save.
The capabilities of the search feature in AssetView are nearly endless. Use the Help menu to find
all of the different Asset Search fields you can use to filter your data.

AssetView Dashboard
AssetView enables you to build unlimited, dynamic dashboards to view your IT and security data in
many ways. Dashboards in AssetView will save you time because they will contain customizable, up-to-
date views of your data without having to manage API scripts and spreadsheets. You can build as many
dashboards as you need.
1. From within AssetView, click on the Dashboard section.

2. Click the New Dashboard button.

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3. Click the Blank option, and click Next.

4. Give it the name of First Dashboard.

5. Click the checkbox to Make this dashboard my default.

6. Click Create.
This creates a blank canvas for you to build your own widgets. Your widgets will use elastic search
and enable you to customize your own Dashboard(s).

7. Click the Add Widget button.

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8. Click the link to create a custom widget.

9. Give it a title Sev 4 and 5 Vulns by OS.

10. Enter the following query:

vulnerabilities.vulnerability.risk:40 or 50

The purpose of this query is to find hosts with vulnerabilities that have severity 4 or 5.
11. Click the Pie option, and the Show Labels checkbox.

12. Under the Categories/Rows click on operatingSystem and limit to Top 5.

13. Click the Add to Dashboard button.

14. View your new widget in your Dashboard.

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LAB 5: Vulnerability Scan (30 min.)

Once you have successfully added hosts to your subscription, they can be scanned for vulnerabilities. As
Qualys learns about each hosts that it scans, it can categorically eliminate different vulnerability tests,
dramatically reducing scan time in the process.
To identify the host IPs that can be scanned:

1. Click back to the Vulnerability Management Application.
2. Navigate to the Host Assets tab (within the Assets Section).
3. Click the Expand Range icon to view individual IP addresses in your subscription
Alternatively, you can create a Map Report and look for the hosts with the S symbol.

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Trusted Scanning
It is a Best Practice to perform vulnerability scans with administrator or root level privileges. Qualys
refers to these as Trusted Scans. Qualys can authenticate to numerous technology platforms.
In this exercise, well create a Windows authentication record, a UNIX authentication record, and an
Option Profile that uses them.

Windows Authentication Record

1. Under the Scans section, click the Authentication tab.
2. Click the New button and select Windows Record
3. Enter Local Windows Authentication as the Title for the Authentication Record.
4. Click the Login Credentials tab on the left hand side, and then select the radio button for Local
authentication.

5. In the Login section, leave the radio button for Basic authentication selected.
6. Enter qscanner (omit quotes) in the User Name field and abc1234! (omit quotes) in the
Password and Confirm Password fields.
7. Click the IPs tab, and assign the IPs for your Windows-based host devices (64.41.200.231,
64.41.200.232, 64.41.200.237, 64.41.200.238).
8. Click the Save button to complete the creation of your new Authentication Record.

Unix Authentication Record

1. Under the Scans section, click the Authentication tab.
2. Click the New button and select Unix Record
3. Enter Root Authentication as the Title for the Authentication Record.

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4. Click the Login Credentials tab on the left hand side, and ensure the Basic authentication radio
button is selected.

5. In the Login section, leave the radio button for Basic authentication selected.
6. Enter qscanner (omit quotes) in the User Name field and abc1234! (omit quotes) in the
Password and Confirm Password fields.
7. Select Sudo from the Root Delegation drop down menu.
8. Click the IPs tab, and assign the IPs for your Unix-based host devices (64.41.200.233 64.41.200.236, 64.41.200.239, and 64.41.200.240).
9. Click the Save button to complete the creation of your new Authentication Record.
Authentication isnt enabled by default, and must be selected within an Option Profile.

9. Navigate to 1) the Option Profiles tab, click 2) the New button and select 3) Option Profile.
10. Enter Custom Authentication in the Title field.
11. Click Scan in the left navigation panel.

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12. Locate the Authentication section and enable the Windows and Unix/Cisco authentication
methods.
13. Click the Save button.

Launch Scan

1. Navigate to the 1) Scans section, 2) Scans tab, click the 3) New button and select the Scan
option.

2. Enter the Title: Custom Auth Scan.
3. Select the Option Profile you just created (Custom Authentication).

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4. Under Targets select the Assets radio button.
5. Use the Select link to add both Desktop and Server Asset Groups as scanning targets.
6. Click the Launch button to launch the scan.
7. Click the Close button to close the Scan Progress window, when it is displayed.

The Scans tab lists running scans and stored scans. You can use the Quick Actions menu to cancel or
pause running scans. To delete a scan, simply place a check in the box next to the Title, and choose the
Delete option from the Actions button.

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Processed vs. Unprocessed Scans

When a Scanner Appliance has finished performing a vulnerability scan, the scan results are sent to the
Qualys Secure Operations Center (SOC). The raw scan data is then processed and integrated with the
Host Based Findings within your subscription.

Although the Status column may display the Finished status, your scan results will not be available
for use until the green circle icon turns into a green ball ( ) icon.
Storage
By default, the Qualys service deletes individual scan results from the Scans tab and Maps tab every
six months. You may extend this up to a year, or reduce it to one month (Scans > Setup > Storage).

To disable the auto delete feature, clear (remove) the appropriate checkbox.

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Vulnerability Ratings
Scanning analyzes the security of your network devices using an Inference-Based Scanning Engine, an
adaptive process that intelligently runs only tests applicable to the host being scanned.
Vulnerabilities (red)

Security weaknesses verified by an active test

Potential
vulnerabilities (yellow)

Security weaknesses that need manual verification

Information (blue)

Configuration data

Potential Vulnerabilities
Two common classes of potential vulnerabilities include Denial of Service (DoS) and buffer overflow
attacks. Qualys wont try an active test if that active test might deny service or introduce instability, so
we cant actively test these. That said
Many potential vulnerabilities can be promoted to straight-up vulnerabilities using authentication.
These are labeled
(red/yellow) in the Vulnerability Knowledgebase.
When a normal (untrusted) scan includes a
(red/yellow) vulnerability, Qualys can find
conditions that flag the risk (e.g. SMB is enabled). When a trusted scan is performed (Qualys
authenticates to the device), the registry is analyzed and other tests are performed. And in the scan
results, Qualys identifies the issue as a confirmed vulnerability
or a potential vulnerability
.

Severity levels
Level 5

Remote root/administrator

Remote control over system with Admin privileges

Level 4

Remote user

Remote control over system with user privileges

Level 3

Leaks critical sensitive data

Remote access to services or applications

Level 2

Leaks sensitive data

Determine precise system/service versions

Level 1

Basic information

Open ports and other easily deduced data

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Additional Exercises
You may perform all Additional Exercises at your own convenience. Other lab exercises in this
document are not dependent on the outcome of these exercises.

Custom Vulnerability Detection

Goal: Choose the vulnerabilities that will be tested in a vulnerability scan.
Normally, scans are configured to detect all vulnerabilities. That said, there are times when you may
want to scan for a single type of vulnerability.
The steps that follow, will use the Heartbleed Detection Search Lists, to perform a custom
vulnerability detection scan:
1. Under the Scans section, click the Option Profiles tab.
2. Click the New button and select Option Profile.
3. Enter the title Heartbleed Detection.
4. Click the Make this a globally available option profile checkbox (so other Qualys users can use
this profile).
5. In the left navigation pane, click the Scan tab.
6. Scroll down to the Vulnerability Detection section and select the Custom radio button. The
Search List dialog box will appear.
7. Click the Add Lists button. The search lists in your account will appear.
8. Select Search List Library in the navigation pane.
9. Select the check box next to the Heartbleed Detection list, and then click the Import button.

10. Scroll to the end of the Option Profile and click Save.
You may now use this Option Profile to perform a vulnerability scan. The resulting scan report will only
reflect the vulnerabilities identified in the Custom Search List attached to this profile.

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Low Bandwidth Scan

Use Case: Scan a remote office over a low bandwidth link.
Qualys has three performance options pre-sets and a custom option. The Low option is ideal for
ISDN and DSL connected offices. Normal is a good general setting for Ethernet environments. High is
best for minimally utilized 100Mbit links and 1Gbit networks.
The number of hosts to scan/map concurrently affects scanning speed and network bandwidth. Qualys
adjusts its packet rate based on detected network load; your configuration choices dictate how
aggressive it should be in throttling back when it detects that the network is under load. In this exercise,
you will select different presets to see how each is configured; later, you can use what you learn here
when creating Custom performance options.
1. Create a new Option Profile titled Low Bandwidth Scan - Option Profile.
2. In the navigation pane on the left, choose the Scan tab. Under Performance click the
Configure button.
The Configure Scan Performance window will open.

3. Choose Low from the Overall Performance drop menu.
4. Close the performance window by clicking OK.
5. Save the Option Profile.

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LAB 6: Reporting (30 min.)

Qualys stores your generated reports for a week. This is handy when you generate a large report that
you want to share with your colleagues. Qualys only needs to process the data when you create the
report; your colleagues can simply click to view the generated report.

High Severity Report

As weve seen, using raw scan data can be overwhelming. Its better to generate a report to
consolidate, organize, filter and generally make scan and map data usable for reviewing. Lets begin by
creating a High Severity Report.
The High Severity report is useful for showing only the most severe vulnerabilities, levels 4 and 5 (red). It
also introduces actions when created using the HTML format. Complete the following steps to create a
High Severity Report:
1. From the Reports section, click the Reports tab. Choose New > Scan Report > Template
Based
2. Input the following details:
Title: Only The Worst Vulnerabilities
Report Template: High Severity Report
Report Format: HTML
3. Delete the word All from the Asset Groups field. Then, click on the Add Tags link and
using the search box, type in Desktop. Select the tag when it appears in the window.
4. Click the Run button to view the report, and scroll down to the Detailed Results section.

Integrated Workflow Actions

Workflow actions are integrated into the High Severity and Technical Reports using the
icon (to
the right of a vulnerability). Using workflow actions you can ignore vulnerabilities, create remediation
tickets, or view remediation tickets that already exists.

Notice the vulnerability status next to the action icon. The first time a vulnerability is found with the
latest scan, the word New will appear in the report. Once a vulnerability has been discovered, its
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status will change to Active with each successive vulnerability scan. If the vulnerability has been fixed,
the word Fixed appears.
Also notice our tags appear within the report.
In the next steps, we will perform the actions to ignore a specific vulnerability for a single host device.
5. Click the icon for host 64.41.200.231 (Host Name: demo01.s02.sjc01.qualys.com) to
display its vulnerability details.
6. Locate the severity 5 vulnerability called Microsoft SMB Remote Code Execution
Vulnerability (MS09-001) and expand it.
7. Mouse-over the
vulnerability.

menu for this vulnerability, and choose the option to Ignore

8. Enter an appropriate reason, such as This host will be decommissioned next week and thus
will not be patched and click the OK button.
It is important to note that steps 4 through 6 above will ignore the Microsoft SMB Remote Code
Execution Vulnerability specifically for host IP address 64.41.200.231. Other host devices that have
this same vulnerability (64.41.200.232 and 64.41.200.238) will not be affected by these
actions.

Selective Vulnerability Reporting

Goal: Use the vulnerability data that you have successfully collected to create a vulnerability report that
selectively includes and excludes vulnerabilities that you specify.
Earlier in this lab you saw how an Option Profile could be customized to target a specific list of
vulnerabilities, and how other vulnerabilities could be simultaneously excluded from a scan. This next
exercise will demonstrate these very same principles, only using the Selective Vulnerability Reporting
section within a Report Template.
Best Practice: Scan for everything, and then be selective (customize) in your reporting.
1. Navigate to the Templates tab within the Reports section, and click the New button. Choose the
Scan Template option.
2. Title the report Critical Vulnerabilities With Patches.

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3. From the left navigation tab click on the Findings, and use the Desktop Asset Tag as the target
for this report.
4. From the left navigation pane, click the Display tab. In the Detailed Results section, choose the
option to sort by vulnerability, and select the check box to include the Vulnerability Details.
5. From the left navigation pane, click the Filter tab. In the Selective Vulnerability Reporting
section, click the Custom radio button, and then click the Add List button.

6. Select the Critical Vulnerabilities with Vendor Patches v.1 Search List.
7. Click the Exclude QIDs check box, and then click the Add Lists button.

8. Select the Adobe Vulnerabilities v.1 Search List.
We will make the assumption here that a different administrator will handle the Adobe-related
vulnerabilities.
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9. Use the Test button again to test your new exclusion option.
10. Close the report and Save the report template.

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Patch Report
The Qualys Patch Report identifies patches that fix detected vulnerabilities. The detailed results in the
report include a table of QIDs that will be fixed by applying a missing patch, and links for patches are
displayed if available.
The most relevant patches are recommended for installation. The recommended patch may be broader
in scope and it may fix more vulnerabilities than the QID associated with the vulnerability detection.

How Patch Analysis Works

The patch report identifies the patches available for vulnerabilities detected by the most recent scan of
each selected host.
The service identifies patches using this staged approach:
a) Collects information for detected vulnerabilities. The service first collects information about
vulnerability QIDs detected on the target hosts, and applies QID filtering based on user-selected
settings in the "Selective Vulnerability Reporting" and "Timeframe Selection" sections on the
Filter tab in the patch report template.
b) Identifies which vulnerabilities have patches. The service uses the KnowledgeBase to
determine which detected vulnerabilities have patches available. Only QIDs with known patches
are considered, and the rest are discarded.
c) Determines recommended patches for each vulnerability. The service uses the KnowledgeBase
to determine the relationship between the patchable QIDs (vulnerabilities with available
patches). The relationship is very simple: either the QID is associated with the latest patch
available for that issue, or a newer patch associated with a separate QID is available for that
issue.
d) Applies patch QID filtering, if any. The service applies patch QID filtering based on user-selected
settings in the "Selective Patch Reporting" section on the Filter tab in the patch report template.
Only the newest patch that is not filtered out is listed as a patch in the report.
e) Assigns a severity to each patch. The service assigns a severity to each patch in the report. The
severity may be based on the recommended patch to fix the vulnerability (the default) or the
highest severity across all detected vulnerabilities that may be fixed by the patch. Users
determine which patch severity to display on the Display tab in the patch report template.
Create a Patch Report:
1. From the Reports section, navigate to the Reports tab

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2. Choose New > Patch Report
3. Under report title type Online Patch Report.
4. Click the Select link next to the Report Template selection box.
5. Click on the Template Library tab and then select Critical Patches Required v.1 for the report
template. Click the Import button.
6. Click the Make Global button to share this template with others.
This enables other users in Qualys to use this template to report against the assets that have been
assigned to them.
7. Select Online Report for the Report Format.

8. In the Asset Groups section type All and click Run.

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9. When the report opens, click on the Sev column in the left pane (and sort most severe to least
severe).
10. In the left pane, use the Title column, to click on the top patch in the list. Notice that the same
patch might affect multiple hosts.
11. Click on the Title of other patches to see what hosts are impacted.
12. From the right pane, try clicking on the number of vulnerabilities (Vulns column) to display the
vulnerabilities impacted by a patch.
13. To distribute this report to your system administrators, click File> Download (select PDF or CSV
format).

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Scorecard Report
Scorecard reports are part of the robust reporting mechanism within the Qualys environment. These
reports provide the state of security within the enterprise. They are designed to assist IT line
managers, Auditors, or the Board of Directors.
Using the Vulnerability Scorecard, users can evaluate Business Risk by asset group or tag and establish
acceptable Business Risk levels for the organization. Also, the same scorecard can be used to identify
vulnerabilities by type, status and age.

1. Navigate to 1) the Reports section and 2) Reports tab. Click the New button and select 3)
Scorecard Report option.

2. From the New Scorecard Report window, highlight Vulnerability Scorecard Report, and click
the Edit link just below the Scorecard report list.

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3. Click Report Source in the left navigation pane.
4. Select the Asset Tags radio button and add both Windows and Linux hosts.
5. Select the Any operator to target host that have any of the Asset Tags listed.
All: target only hosts that have all of the tags listed (AND equivalent).
Any: target hosts that have any of the tags listed (OR equivalent).

6. Click Filter in the left navigation pane.
7. Remove the default check mark from the Confirmed (Severity 5,4,3) option.
8. Click the Add List button (Included Search Lists:) and add Critical Vulnerabilities with Vendor
Patches v.1 (these are the vulnerabilities that will be targeted in this report).

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9. Click Display in the navigation pane, and change the Business Risk Goal to 20.
The Business Risk Goal reflects your aversion or appetite for risk (based on a percentage of hosts
that are vulnerable with the targeted QIDs (those in the Critical Vulnerabilities with Vendor
Patches v.1) search list.
10. Click Save As and title the report Adjusted Business Risk.
11. Select the Scorecard you just created (Adjusted Business Risk) and run the report with HTML as a
format.
The report will show the percentage of Critical Vulnerabilities with Vendor Patches for each
targeted Asset Tag. Passing values will display in green, failing values will display in red. You can
continue to adjust the risk goal as you create different types of scorecard reports that target various
hosts and different types of vulnerabilities.

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Additional Exercises
You may perform all Additional Exercises at your own convenience. Other lab exercises in this
document are not dependent on the outcome of these exercises.

Executive Report
The Executive Report is a high-level trend report. It identifies changes to the vulnerability exposure of
your network over time.
Presently, you do not have an adequate amount of scan history in your demo account to produce an
effective trend report. For this reason, an illustrated description of the Executive Report will be
provided.
When you have generated more scan data (after several days), feel free to return to this section to
create an Executive Report. You can create an Executive Report by selecting the Executive Report
Template.

Vulnerability Status

The Filter tab of the Executive Report Template contains Vulnerability Status. With all Vulnerability
Status filters selected, we can produce the graphic seen above. Most of these are obvious, but theres
one hidden gem: Re-Opened. A re-opened vulnerability is a vulnerability that you previously fixed but
has returned.
Re-opened vulnerabilities are typically the result of re-imaging a host from an un-patched image, or
using compensating controls (e.g., a firewall rule that blocks access to a vulnerable service) in the
absence of patches. Also, it could represent a service that was recently enabled on a host device (like a
web server).

Vulnerabilities Over Time

Showing vulnerabilities over time is, of course, the whole point of the Executive Report. The following
chart visually illustrates both the number and the severity of vulnerabilities over time:

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Top Vulnerability Categories

The Top Vulnerability Categories table is handy come hiring time: it illustrates the areas that need the
most work, and how much the exposure has changed, so you can hire people to cover your most critical
needs.

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Scheduled Reporting
Like with mapping and scanning, users have the ability to schedule reports to run automatically at a
scheduled time, on a recurring basis. Users can also set options to notify select distribution groups when
a report is complete and ready for viewing.
There are several report types that can be scheduled. You can schedule template-based scan reports
(set to Host Based Findings source selection), scorecard reports, patch reports, template-based
compliance reports and remediation reports.
To create a new report schedule, go to Reports > Schedules and select the type of report youre
interested in from the New menu. In the steps that follow, a new template-based scan report will be
scheduled.

1. Within the Reports section, navigate to the Schedules tab.
2. If prompted, click the I Accept button to enable scheduled reporting.
3. Click the New button and select Scan Report > Template Based.

4. From the Report Details section, give your report a title, such as Demo Scheduled Report.
5. For Report Template, click the Select link and select the Executive Report template.
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6. For Report Format keep the selection for Portable Document Format (PDF).
7. In the Report Source section, leave the Asset Groups set to All.

8. Click the checkbox for Scheduling and Report Notification.
9. Leave today as your start date, and midnight (00:00) as your starting time.
10. Select (GMT-0800) United States (California): Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento
as you time zone.
11. Set this scheduled report to occur every week (Weekly) on Friday.

12. In the Schedule Status section, please choose the check box to Deactivate this report.
13. Click the Schedule button to finish.

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LAB 7: User Management (10 min.)

User accounts form the basis for privileges and access control within Qualys. This section will explore
creating users and the various levels of user privileges.

Create User Account

Well start by creating a user and assigning some Asset Groups. Over several steps, in this section and
the next, well expand our new users capabilities.

User Roles
User privileges are assigned and identified using various User Roles. Your Qualys student account has
the role of Manager.
The Scanner role carries the primary responsibility of mapping and scanning network resources.
The Reader role carries the least privileges. They can create custom reports from existing scan and
map data, but cannot launch scans or maps.

Privileges Summary

Manager

Scanner

Reader

Create Reports

Scan/Map: All Assets

Create Option Profiles

Optionally

Create User Accounts

Scan/Map: Assigned Assets

Under the Users section, click the Users tab.
1. Choose New > User....
2. Fill in the blank fields in the General Information section with your info. Use a valid email
address that you can get to from the computer you are seated at.

3. Under the User Roles tab, choose Reader as your User Role.
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4. Click Asset Groups in the navigation pane, and add the San Jose Asset Group to this account.
Presently, access permissions are provided to user accounts, using Asset Groups. This includes
scanning, reporting and remediation access privileges.
5. Click the Options tab and view the Notification Options.

6. Save the user; close the window.

Activate this account by looking at the email sent by Qualys, clicking on the link, and viewing the
credentials. The link can only be clicked once, so make sure you save the credentials.

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LAB 8: Remediation (15 min.)

Qualys includes Remediation Policies that can be used to assign vulnerabilities to specific users or ignore
vulnerabilities that you do not plan to address.

Assign Vulnerability to User

This first policy will be used to assign High Risk Windows Vulnerabilities.
1. Under the Remediation section, click the Policies tab.
2. Click the New button and select the Rule option.
3. Enter High Risk Vulnerabilities for the title.
4. Under the Conditions tab, notice the Asset Groups field. All is a keyword that includes all
hosts in your account.

5. Under the Vulnerability Section, to the right, click on

6. Select the checkbox next to title, Confirmed Severity 4 + 5 and press the Ok button.
7. Assign these vulnerabilities to the user account you created in LAB 7, and enforce a 7-day deadline
for patching and mitigation.

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8. Save the rule by clicking the Save button.

Ignore Low Risk Vulnerabilities

The task of ignoring a specific vulnerability for a specific host, was performed earlier in the Reporting
Lab; however, using a manual process. Remediation Policies can automate the process of ignoring
vulnerabilities.
1. From the Remediation section, click on the Policies tab and create a new Remediation Rule
titled Ignore Low Risk Vulnerabilities.
2. Add the Low Severity Vulns search list under the Conditions tab.

3. Under the Actions tab, select the Create Tickets set to Closed/Ignored radio button.
4. Save the rule, close the window, and return the Remediation Policies List.
5. Now that you have created a Remediation Policies, you will need to launch another vulnerability
scan to allow Qualys to automatically create remediation tickets.
6. Go ahead and launch a scan.
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A Final Note Account Setup

Before ending the training, its important that we cover some less conspicuous setup configurations of
Qualys. These are items that arent essential, but may be needed here and there.

Dashboard
Because weve mapped and scanned, some information will be populated in our Dashboard.
1. Navigate to the Dashboard section.

2. Customize some items on the Dashboard by clicking on the Configure link.

Qualys Home Page

What do you want to see when you login?
1. Click on your Qualys User ID (located just to the right of the Help button) and select Home Page.

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2. Select the home page that best suits your needs, and click the Save button.

Excluding Hosts from Scans

In some cases, you may have IP addresses within a segment that do not need to be scanned, and they
will never need to be scanned. In this case, the Excluded Hosts section of the Setup menu comes in
handy.
1. Navigate to the Setup tab in the Scans section, and click on Excluded Hosts section.
2. A new screen will appear.
3. Click the Edit button.
4. Add the IP 64.41.200.235 to the list. Click Add.
5. Add a comment (the Comment field is required).
6. Click Close.
Tip: its a good practice to add comments about why this is excluded in the event of an audit.
7. Rerun a light scan over the IP Segment containing the IP address you just excluded. You
should not see the .235 address.
Keep in mind, once you exclude a host, its a global setting for your subscription, the IPs will be excluded
from ALL activity, even though its still listed in your subscription.
Remember in Remediation how we talk about automatically closing tickets once the scan shows the
vulnerability is no longer available? Well, under the Setup tab in the Remediation section, you will
find:

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You may also need to determine if the lower privileged groups will be able to Close and Ignore tickets or
allow them to Delete tickets both can be allowed here.
The Security function under the Setup tab in the Users section allows for the more critical security
settings for users and the service:

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You may want to restrict which IPs have the ability to connect to your QG UI. For this reason, you can
restrict access. You can also set password security, even allowing users to set their own passwords.
Finally, lets take a look at the Report Share section.
8. Navigate to the Setup tab in the Reports section, and click on Report Share.
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9. Choose to Enable Secure PDF Distribution.

10. Click Save.
11. Now navigate to Reports and choose a new Technical Report.
12. Click Add Secure Distribution and choose an email to send your report to.

13. Run the Report.

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Now when you generate a PDF report you'll have the chance to enter a list of email addresses that you'd
like the report distributed to securely. As long as you have Adobe on your computer and you know the
report password, you'll be able to pull up the report...OUTSIDE of Qualys.

Configuring Business Risk

The Executive Report (and templates you might create) have a metric called Business Risk.

Business Risk is the product of the Average Security Risk and the rating set by the Asset Groups
Business Impact. Lets take a look at how the weights are calculated.
Choose Business Risk from the Setup tab under the Reports section.

These are the default values for Business Risk. As you can see, a level 5 vulnerability on a host whose
Asset Group is of Critical importance is weighted 100 times greater than that of a level 1 vulnerability
on a host whose asset group is of Low importance.

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Contacting Support
Overview
Try as we may, inevitably you will need to contact support and we support you 24x7.
With the Qualys interface, you will have all the necessary information at your fingertips. From the
Qualys User Interface, click on Help and then Contact Support.

Youll see our support center where you can find answers to your questions, learn from Qualys and
other security professionals at our Community, submit support tickets. Scroll down to see our phone list
with support contact numbers for your region.

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So then, the question becomes what information do you need to send to Qualys? Well, that can
depend on the type of problems you are seeing.

False Positive
If you believe that you have identified a false positive, please provide us with additional information so
that we can resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Please provide the following in this message:

Reasons you believe you have a false positive. Include steps you've taken to patch the system.

Was the issue reported during an authenticated scan? If yes, was the authentication
successful? There are several appendices in your scan results that provide information related
to authentication.

When was the vulnerability first detected? Have there been changes to the host since then?

For publicly-facing IPs, we can greatly expedite the investigation if we can perform a light scan
on the host. Do you grant permission for us to scan the host?

After receiving a ticket number from Support, send a follow-up email referencing the ticket number and
attach the following items:

A scan report with the vulnerability reported.

A packet capture of traffic to/from the affected service/port for its typical communications.
(only if requested by DEV)

System configuration information. For Windows, this is provided by systeminfo.exe and

MSinfo32.exe.

Additional information, such as a registry dump or a screenshot of the system showing that it
is patched and not vulnerable.

False Negative
On very rare occasions we may produce a False Negative. If you believe this to be the case, please
provide the following in your message:

IP address, DNS hostname or NetBIOS hostname for the host.

QID, if available, for the potential false negative.

Reasons you believe you have a false negative. Include steps taken to troubleshoot the issue.

When was the vulnerability last detected? Have there been changes to the host since then?

For publicly-facing IPs, we can greatly expedite the investigation if we can perform a light scan
on the host. Do you grant permission for us to scan the host?

After receiving a ticket number from Support, send a follow-up email referencing the ticket number and
attach the following items:

A scan report of the scan that did not identify the vulnerability.
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Additional information, such as a registry dump or screenshot of your system.

Service Stopped Responding

This type of issue can have several causes, and rarely is caused by a test we have sent. Nevertheless, we
need to determine what has happened and help expedite resolution. Quite often, resolution does
require the vendor of the service to be involved in our troubleshooting effort.
Please provide the following in this message:

A description of the symptoms. When did the issue first appear? If the issue is reproducible,
please provide steps to reproduce the issue.

Detailed information for each affected system, including: operating system version and patch
level, IP address, the system's primary function and the location of the system on the network
(i.e. behind a firewall, in DMZ or behind a load balancer.)

Detailed information for each affected service, including: software name, exact version and
build or patch level, the port number that the affected service is running on and whether the
port is static or dynamic.

For publicly-facing IPs, we can greatly expedite the investigation if we can perform a light scan
on the host. Do you grant permission for us to scan the host?

After receiving a ticket number from Support, send a follow-up email referencing the ticket number and
attach the following items:

A scan report of the scan that caused the service to stop responding.

A packet capture of traffic to/from the affected service/port for its typical communications.

A list of open ports and services running on those ports.

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# On a Windows system, you can run the free tcpview.exe and save the output. This
program is available at:http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/tcpview.shtml

# On a Linux system, you can run netstat -ntulp and save the output.

An image of the box is useful to help us reproduce the issue. For Windows machines, images
may be created using MS Virtual PC (free). For *nix, VMWare may be used. If the host has
custom software on it, then please also provide us with a copy of the software.

Additional information, such as screenshots and log files.

Scanner Appliance Issues

Before submitting a request to Support, please see the Qualys Scanner Appliance User Guide for
troubleshooting information. The user guide describes troubleshooting techniques you can use to
respond to errors and performance conditions when using the Scanner Appliance.
If you have followed the troubleshooting techniques and are still experiencing difficulty, please provide
us with additional information so that we can resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Please provide the following in this message:
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The error message on the LCD display of the Scanner Appliance.

The IP configuration for the LAN interface (static or DHCP). For static configurations, include
the IP address, netmask, gw, dns1, dns2, wins and domain.

If WAN is enabled, provide the IP configuration for the WAN interface. For static
configurations, include the IP address, netmask, gw, dns1, dns2, wins and domain.

If proxy is enabled, identify the proxy software and list the proxy configuration. Indicate
whether a username and password is used but do not send us the password.

How long is the timeout from when you hit Enter on "Really enable.." to when the "Network
Error" message appears?

When you use a laptop with the same network configuration on the same network port, are
you able to connect to the Qualys service at https://qualysguard.qualys.com?

Host Crash
Qualys scans are generally non-intrusive. If a scan has caused a host to crash then we will make resolving
this issue a top priority. We are eager to work with you and any third-party vendors to quickly isolate
and resolve the problem.
Please provide the following in this message:
A description of the symptoms. When did the issue first appear? If the issue is reproducible,
please provide steps to reproduce the issue.

Detailed information for each affected system, including: operating system version and patch
level, IP address, the system's primary function and the location of the system on the network
(i.e. behind a firewall, in DMZ or behind a load balancer.)

For publicly-facing IPs, we can greatly expedite the investigation if we can perform a light scan
on the host. Do you grant permission for us to scan the host?

After receiving a ticket number from Support, send a follow-up email referencing the ticket number and
attach the following items:

A scan report of the scan that resulted in the host crash.

A packet capture of traffic to/from the affected service/port for its typical communications.

A list of open ports and services running on those ports.

o

On a Windows system, you can run the free tcpview.exe and save the output.

On a Linux system, you can run netstat -ntulp and save the output.

An image of the box is useful to help us reproduce the issue. For Windows machines, images
may be created using MS Virtual PC (free). For *nix, VMWare may be used. If the host has
custom software on it, then please also provide us with a copy of the software.

Additional information, such as screenshots and log files.

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