A Balanced Approach to Vulnerability Analysis in Ethical Hacking: An Interview with Reuben Torres

May 30, 2025

| Reuben Torres

| Ethical Hacking

Vulnerability analysis is a fundamental component of ethical hacking, playing a crucial role in assessing gaps in the organization’s digital architecture that hackers could exploit. To understand the need for and best practices involved with vulnerability assessment capabilities, EC-Council’s CyberTalks team reached out to Reuben Torres, a certified ethical hacker and cybersecurity expert. Reuben highlights that the insights gained from the CEH course enhance understanding of various attack vectors and improve defense strategies. The current blog highlights the importance of vulnerability identification and analysis, particularly in modern cyber threats such as ransomware and zero-day exploits. With automation techniques actively adopted in cybersecurity tasks, including ethical hacking and vulnerability assessment, the blog will also discuss balancing automated and manual analysis approaches.

Do ethical hackers regularly conduct vulnerability analysis? Can you explain the process you use?

This is essentially a three-step process, where the first step involves gathering the team to get a clear and concise understanding of the objective. We define the scope and expectations and analyze potential issues.

The goal is to gather everyone’s feedback, as each person may have different observations.

Collectively, we determine where we currently stand and where we aim to be.

Once we’ve outlined our scope, we begin scanning. This includes using our tools to collect the relevant information: both that which is generally expected and sometimes some unexpected information.

Data can come from various sources, such as patch management systems, phishing simulations, security awareness programs, and vulnerability assessment tools.

We also consider intelligence from potential social engineering attempts, reconnaissance activities, or indicators of malicious behavior.

In the final step, we take the insights from our scans and implement the necessary fixes. This could involve actions like closing open ports, fine-tuning firewall rules, or adjusting IDS/IPS configurations to better detect and mitigate threats. The idea is to address vulnerabilities, especially those that could be critical or harmful to the organization.

What things did you learn about vulnerability analysis in the CEH course?

Oh wow, it really opened my eyes to the different types of attacks, such as reconnaissance attacks, SQL injection, social engineering, and much more.

I gained a better understanding of what it means to be a hacker and how, as a certified ethical hacker, I can defend against those threats.

It gave me valuable insight into the approach I should take, and it has helped me to improve the security posture of digital networks and how to better protect the organization I work for.

How essential is it for organizations to regularly identify and analyze vulnerabilities, and what are the benefits?

In today’s world, where even large governments and major corporations are getting breached, it’s absolutely essential for organizations to regularly identify and analyze vulnerabilities. As an IT security professional, you don’t want your organization’s brand to be tarnished by a breach, which can lead to reputational damage, legal consequences, and financial loss.

We live in an era of zero-day attacks, botnets, and ransomware. Understanding your infrastructure, addressing any vulnerabilities that you can fix, and maintaining the protocol to secure as much as possible are crucial steps. While no system can be 100% secure, the goal is to make it as difficult as possible for attackers to succeed. The harder it is for them, the more likely they are to give you up as a potential target for exploitation.

It is essential to maintain a constant threat identification vigil, as this is not a 9-to-5 responsibility but rather a 24×7/365 security effort.

Threat actors are constantly working to exploit weaknesses, hijacking data through ransomware, and launching brute force attacks or making privilege escalation attempts. If you’re not continuously scanning and analyzing your systems for vulnerabilities, you not only risk falling behind but may also have to pay a heavy price. However, by regularly identifying and addressing these weaknesses, you stay one step ahead of attackers. Simple measures like regularly updating passwords and enforcing strong authentication policies can greatly enhance your organization’s security posture.

In conclusion, maintaining a proactive vulnerability management process is vital. While no system is invulnerable, staying vigilant and well-prepared reduces the risk of breaches and protects both your operations and reputation.

In your professional opinion, how should an ethical hacker balance automated and manual vulnerability analysis methods?

The cybersecurity industry is constantly evolving, with an overwhelming amount of data, tools, and emerging threats. It’s nearly impossible to keep up with everything manually. In my professional opinion, there needs to be a strategic balance between automated and manual processes.

Routine tasks like log analysis, audit checks, and vulnerability scanning should be automated to improve efficiency and reduce human error. However, the interpretation of scan results and deeper analyses still require human insight. This is where manual intervention becomes crucial.

We’re at a point in cybersecurity where relying solely on manual methods is no longer practical. A balanced approach—leveraging automation for repetitive tasks while applying manual expertise for decision-making and analysis—not only enhances security posture but also helps prevent burnout among security professionals. Ultimately, this balance benefits both the organization and its IT security team.

How do you deal with false positives in the vulnerability analysis process?

False positives are arguably one of the most stressful aspects of working in cybersecurity.

They can be misleading and often result in wasted time and resources. When alerts turn out to be false positives, they divert attention from actual threats that require immediate action. This can have serious implications if a real issue goes undetected.

In my opinion, managing false positives requires a careful balance. Many automated tools generate false positives because they’re based on different detection methodologies—some are behavioral-based, some are signature-based, and others are client-based. These variations can result in inconsistent accuracy, which makes it a strenuous and often frustrating process to sort through alerts.

Despite the inconvenience, false positives cannot be ignored. What appears to be a harmless alert could actually be an early indicator of a legitimate threat.

Therefore, it’s important to verify and, when uncertain, escalate the alert to another team member or security unit who might have more context.

The constant stream of alerts can quickly become overwhelming, especially when you’re investigating one and immediately get hit with another. That’s why it’s essential to build a workflow that allows for effective triaging and collaboration. Delegating uncertain cases and focusing on higher-priority issues can improve overall efficiency.

While the industry is gradually improving—especially with advancements in behavioral analysis technology—many tools are still not mature enough to eliminate false positives entirely. Until detection tools become more refined, handling false positives will remain a significant and ongoing challenge in cybersecurity.

What tools or resources do you use regularly for vulnerability analysis?

I use a tool called Nessus, which is quite effective and regularly provides notifications related to potential vulnerabilities. There’s definitely room for improvement, but it’s a solid resource. I also use another tool called Critical Insight. Both tools offer valuable guidance and insights for vulnerability analysis.

That said, like any tool, they have their limitations—particularly when it comes to false positives. While they’re helpful, it’s important not to rely on them blindly.

You have to constantly evaluate: Is this output an accurate reflection of what’s really happening in the environment, or is it misleading?

This is where manual analysis comes into play. As an IT security professional, it’s my responsibility to interpret the results, investigate further, and determine what the assessments actually mean. These tools are essential and used regularly, but their effectiveness ultimately depends on how well you balance automation with critical thinking and human judgment.

Conclusion

Vulnerability analysis is not a one-time effort but a continuous process essential to maintaining a strong cybersecurity framework. Reuben states that through a structured approach of defining scope, scanning, and remediation, ethical hackers can effectively identify and address potential security gaps. He also acknowledges the role of CEH in significantly enhancing practitioners’ knowledge of attack vectors and defensive strategies. Moreover, he states that organizations need to conduct regular vulnerability assessments to reduce risks and protect assets and data. However, automated tools alone are not enough; managing false positives, interpreting results, and making informed decisions require human expertise. Reuben emphasizes that a balance of both automation and manual analysis ensures accuracy, efficiency, and long-term security success.

Reuben Torres is a seasoned cybersecurity professional and a certified ethical hacker with years of experience in ethical hacking, threat intelligence, risk management, and security awareness. He is passionate about resilient and proactive defenses for institutions and specializes in aligning security capabilities with business goals.