CIS Becomes Typhon Security Scanner

Next Generation Security Software (NGSS) announced today that it has rewritten the code for its former Cerberus Internet Scanner (CIS), renaming the revised version Typhon Security Scanner. Typhon is a freeware security scanner designed for Windows 2000 and Windows NT systems. The product scans systems for hundreds of known vulnerabilities that relate to a variety of services and system configurations.

Typhon performs checks against servers and systems such as the Web, FTP, SMTP, POP3, DNS, SNMP, NetBIOS, remote procedure call (RPC), and Microsoft SQL Server. In addition, Typhon analyzes settings on the system registry and services and inspects audit settings for user account passwords. Typhon also checks security configuration settings for Internet Explorer (IE). Once a scan is complete, Typhon produces an HTML-based report that offers detailed information regarding any problems it found, including information about how to fix those problems.

NGSS said it's also putting the finishing touches on a commercial version of Typhon called Typhon II, which will include improved reporting and additional scanning features for other commonly used technologies, such as Secure Shell, Oracle databases, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Typhon II will offer an auto-fix feature to help users correct security issues that Typhon II identifies. Typhon is available as a free download (432KB) on the NGSS Web site.