Breaking Down the Real Meaning of an XDR Solution
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Unlock continuous network visibility and intelligence-driven prioritization to transform your vulnerability management.
Traditional IT environments remain vulnerable when scans are done infrequently or manually. Static scanning misses shadow IT ignores transient devices, and often overlooks systems not regularly scheduled for scans.
Take the example of a remote office server that was deployed temporarily for a project. If it’s not included in regular scanning schedules, it might run unpatched and unnoticed for months—an easy target for attackers.
Fidelis Elevate continuously discovers and maps IT assets as they appear across the enterprise network. Every server, workstation, or rogue device is auto-profiled and assessed for risk exposure. Elevate’s real-time network traffic inspection ensures that even the assets missed by traditional scans are monitored and evaluated on the fly.
As enterprises shift to cloud-first or hybrid architectures, vulnerability scanning has to account for elasticity, shared responsibility models, and multi-cloud complexity. Static IPs no longer exist; ephemeral assets come and go within minutes. Traditional tools built for static networks struggle in these dynamic conditions.
Let’s explore the core requirements for effective cloud vulnerability scanning:
Blind spots in asset visibility are one of the leading causes of undetected vulnerabilities in hybrid networks. Without a unified view, devices can operate outside the scope of your scans—exposing critical systems.
Misconfigurations in container or serverless workloads often go unnoticed because traditional scanners aren’t built for cloud-native architectures. These gaps can serve as easy entry points for attackers.
Separate vulnerability lists for cloud and on-prem can lead to inconsistent prioritization and delayed remediation. Teams end up comparing apples to oranges without a common framework.
Short-lived cloud assets—like auto-scaling containers or functions—are often spun up and destroyed before periodic scans can catch them. That leaves exposure windows that no one sees until too late.
In modern infrastructures, manual or scheduled vulnerability scans introduce gaps. Assets can be provisioned, exploited, and decommissioned between scans—making periodic audits inadequate. A missed scan window can translate to weeks of exposure.
When these windows are open, attackers can deploy malware, exfiltrate data, or gain persistent access unnoticed. That’s why enterprises must move from reactive scanning to continuous vulnerability assessment.
If you deploy a new VM with a known vulnerability and don’t scan for a week, that’s a week of risk. In an automated environment, your scanner must pick it up as soon as it launches.
How Fidelis Elevate fits in: Fidelis detects new assets instantly and inspects their traffic in real time. As soon as a vulnerability is exploited or active behavior is detected, an alert is triggered. This shrinks the exposure window from days to minutes.
Without automation, triage is slow, remediation is delayed, and security backlogs pile up. Most organizations lack the bandwidth to chase every alert manually.
How Fidelis Elevate fits in: Elevate connects vulnerability data to remediation workflows—grouping findings, assigning them to teams, and escalating when timelines slip. Patches, isolations, or compensating controls can be triggered automatically.
Enterprises running across regions, clouds, and branches can’t scale with manual scans. The complexity of the environment must be matched with scalable vulnerability scanning.
How Fidelis Elevate fits in: Agentless, passive scanning lets Elevate scale across thousands of endpoints and multiple clouds. Its real-time analytics reduce false positives and avoid overloading teams with irrelevant alerts.
| Area of Comparison | Cloud-Based Scanning | On-Prem Scanning | Fidelis Elevate Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency and Method | Requires continuous, API-driven assessments due to asset volatility. | Typically relies on scheduled, batch-based scans. | Enables continuous visibility via real-time inspection across both cloud and network APIs. |
| Asset Scope | Must include containers, serverless functions, IAM policies, and storage setups. | Focuses mostly on servers and traditional endpoints. | Correlates data from traditional network monitoring and cloud-native tools to track all asset types. |
| Cloud-Native Risk Insight | Needs visibility into misconfigured IAM roles, exposed APIs, and cloud storage. | Lacks native capability to detect cloud-specific configuration risks. | Integrates with cloud posture tools to surface misconfigurations via a unified risk dashboard. |
To secure modern infrastructures, vulnerability scanning must span both static and ephemeral assets, physical and cloud environments, and integrate context to drive smart prioritization. From automated asset discovery to real-time traffic inspection and unified remediation, Fidelis Elevate delivers the visibility and actionability needed to turn vulnerability management into a proactive, continuous cycle.
Talk to a Fidelis expert today to explore how Elevate supports unified vulnerability management across your IT and cloud environments.
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