Qualys Vulnerability Trigger Scan Workflow
This workflow quickly triggers vulnerability scan requests through Slack, allowing users to conveniently fill in parameters and automatically initiate Qualys virtual machine scans. It implements scheduled polling of the scan status to monitor progress and processes the results in JSON format. Ultimately, it pushes the scan summary and report links to a designated Slack channel, facilitating real-time information access for the team. This process greatly simplifies operations for the security team, improves efficiency, and reduces human errors, making it an important tool for enterprise security protection.
No Workflow Diagram
Workflow Name
Qualys Vulnerability Trigger Scan Workflow
Key Features and Highlights
- Initiate vulnerability scan requests via Slack shortcuts, allowing users to conveniently input scan parameters through Slack pop-up windows.
- Integrates with the Qualys API to support automatic launching of virtual machine vulnerability scans.
- Automatically polls scan status until completion, enabling end-to-end process automation.
- Converts scan result data from XML format to JSON for easier subsequent processing and presentation.
- Upon scan completion, automatically posts scan summaries and detailed report links to designated Slack channels for real-time team access to security information.
- Notifies users of scan progress through Slack messages, enhancing user experience and communication efficiency.
Core Problems Addressed
This workflow addresses the challenges faced by enterprise security teams related to cumbersome manual operations, difficulty in tracking scan status, and inconvenient result sharing during Qualys vulnerability scans. It achieves a fully automated closed-loop process from scan initiation, status monitoring to result delivery, saving time, reducing human errors, and accelerating security incident response.
Use Cases
- Enterprise security operations teams needing to initiate vulnerability scans regularly or on-demand and promptly monitor scan progress and results.
- Teams requiring rapid initiation and sharing of vulnerability scan results through collaboration tools like Slack.
- Integration into automated security testing pipelines to minimize manual intervention and improve efficiency.
- Applicable to IT asset management, risk assessment, and security compliance auditing scenarios.
Main Workflow Steps
- Trigger Scan: Invoke the parent workflow via Slack shortcut, collect scan parameters (e.g., asset groups, scan title, option configurations), and start the Qualys virtual machine scan.
- Initial Notification: Post a confirmation message in the designated Slack channel acknowledging receipt of the scan request.
- Data Format Conversion: Convert the XML-formatted scan initiation response returned by Qualys into JSON format for easier handling.
- Poll Scan Status: Automatically call the Qualys API every 5 minutes to retrieve scan results, convert them to JSON, and evaluate the scan status.
- Completion Confirmation: When the scan status is “FINISHED,” stop polling and delete the previous waiting message.
- Publish Results: Push formatted messages containing scan summary information and report links to the Slack channel for team review.
Involved Systems and Services
- Qualys API: For initiating vulnerability scans and retrieving scan results.
- Slack: Serves as the trigger entry point and notification channel, supporting interactive messages and shortcut operations.
- n8n: Workflow automation platform responsible for orchestration and execution, including HTTP requests, XML-to-JSON conversion, polling, and conditional logic nodes.
Target Users and Value
- Enterprise security operations engineers and security analysts: Simplify vulnerability scanning workflows and improve operational efficiency.
- IT teams and DevOps personnel: Integrate automated security testing to enhance system security and response speed.
- Teams requiring real-time monitoring and sharing of security scan information to boost collaboration and communication effectiveness.
By automating seamless triggering, status monitoring, and result sharing of Qualys vulnerability scans, this workflow significantly reduces the complexity of security operations and serves as a powerful tool to enhance enterprise security posture.