Rapid7 Nexpose Helps to Protect Huge IT Infrastructure at Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech began using Nexpose to scan all of their assets– servers, web applications, networks, and databases. They found Rapid7’s product and tech support to be tremendously helpful in securing their large network. Tilley remembers the research that preceded their decision. “We had been using Nessus for several years as an inexpensive and easy vulnerability scanner,” he says. “We set up a scan website that uses Nessus as its backend, and we started looking for a commercial scanner that could go beyond the capabilities that Nessus offered, which was how we found out about Rapid7 Nexpose. Now, we use Nexpose to scan everything – servers, Web applications, networks, databases.” One of the guiding principles of the Security Office is “All Security is Local,” and they try to disseminate this philosophy throughout the University. Marchany says, “We were seeking a tool that enabled us to monitor systems from a central standpoint, but one that would also give local system administrators throughout the school the ability to scan their own systems whenever they wished.” The role-based access feature of Rapid7 Nexpose helps the Security Office to do just that. Role-based access enables the security staff to allow an administrator to access the scanner and use it without interfering with anyone else who may be doing the same thing. As Marchany says, “This capability gives system administrators around campus a sense of empowerment. They say, ‘I can run a security scan whenever I need to, and I can review the results before the IT Security Office tells me I need to fix something.’ This functionality has helped them to be more pro-active, and it has helped us tremendously.”