Chapter 17. Device Security Testing

Network devices should be tested regularly to discover potential issues before an attacker does. You can test security features and stability:

• Test security features to verify that the device is working correctly and to make sure that it was configured correctly. The tests can also be done to compare different solutions and decide which one works better for you.

• Test stability to verify that the device does not crash. This test can be done for any network device, but it is even more important for security devices. If a routing device crashes, you lose network connectivity. If a security device crashes, you might silently lose all protections on your network and open your infrastructure to attacks. Attackers often try to bring a server down to in order to impersonate it (e.g., for DNS spoofing).