OS identification (OSID) certainty
Enterprise Scanner determines whether to run a check against a host based on the certainty of the OS information in SiteProtector and the setting in the Assessment policy that specifies what action to take if the OSID is uncertain.
What determines certainty?
The certainty with which a source provides a completely accurate OSID is based on the quality of the information available to the source. For example, OSID from an IBM Proventia Desktop agent is always considered certain because the agent has full access to information about the asset. OSID from an Enterprise Scanner scan is considered certain if the scanner had authenticated access but uncertain if it did not.
Sources of OSID
Information that identifies the operating system of an asset can come from different sources, such as agents or even directly from users. Each source has access to slightly different data, which makes some sources relatively more certain than others. SiteProtector receives OSID information in any of the following methods:
vEntered manually by a user
vImported from Active Directory
vReported by Proventia Desktop agent
vDiscovered by Enterprise Scanner
vDiscovered by Internet Scanner
Certainty of OSID sources
The following table describes the relative certainty of the sources of OSID data:
Table 23. Relative certainty of the sources of OSID data
Source of OSID Data | Relative Certainty |
|
|
User | Certain |
Active Directory |
|
Desktop agent |
|
|
|
Enterprise Scanner | Certain if obtained with authenticated access |
| Uncertain if not obtained with authenticated |
| access |
|
|
Internet Scanner | Uncertain |
|
|
Comparing Enterprise Scanner and Internet Scanner results
If you want to make a valid comparison of OSID results between Enterprise Scanner and Internet Scanner, you must make sure that you provide equivalent login access to both products.
