Guidelines on Securing Public Web Servers

Step 7.  Conducting initial and periodic vulnerability scans of each public Web server 

and supporting network infrastructure (e.g., firewalls, routers). 

The practices recommended in this document are designed to help mitigate the risks associated 

with public Web servers.  They build on and assume the implementation of practices described 

in the following NIST guidelines as appropriate: 

NIST Special Publication 800 3, 

Establishing a Computer Security Incident Response 

Capability

NIST Special Publication 800 18, 

Guide to Developing Security Plans for 

Information Technology Systems 

NIST Special Publication 800 26, 

Security Self Assessment Guide for Information 

Technology Systems

NIST Special Publication 800 27,

 Engineering Principles for Information Technology 

Security 

NIST Special Publication 800 28, 

Guidelines on Active Content and Mobile Code

NIST Special Publication 800 31, 

Intrusion Detection Systems

NIST Special Publication 800 32, 

Introduction to Public Key Technology and the 

Federal PKI Infrastructure 

NIST Special Publication 800 34, 

Contingency Planning Guide for Information 

Technology Systems

NIST Special Publication 800 37, 

Federal Guidelines for the Security Certification 

and Accreditation of Information Technology Systems

NIST Special Publication 800 40, 

Procedures for Handling Security Patches 

NIST Special Publication 800 41, 

Guide to Firewall Selection and Policy 

Recommendation

s  

NIST Special Publication 800 42,

 Guideline on Network Security Testing 

NIST Special Publication 800 43, 

Guide to Securing Windows 2000 Professional 

NIST Special Publication 800 46, 

Security for Telecommuting and Broadband 

Communications 

NIST Special Publication 800 52, 

Guidelines for the Selection and Use of Transport 

Layer Security Implementations.

All these guidelines and others can be found at the NIST Computer Security Resource Web 

site at 

http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/index.html

. 

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