FAQs

What information is collected during Asset Discovery?

Asset Discovery gathers detailed information about devices on your network, including:

• Device type and hardware specifications (e.g., CPU, memory, disk space).
• Network details like IP and MAC addresses.
• Installed software and operating system details.

You can configure what data to collect based on the scope of your scans. Learn more about configuring scans.

How does Asset Discovery collect data?

ADE uses an agentless approach, leveraging protocols like ICMP, ARP, NetBIOS, DNS, LDAP, TCP, SNMP, SSH/Telnet, and WMI to discover and collect data from resources.

• Domain-based discovery uses ARP, DNS, LDAP, and TCP for domain-level scanning.
• IP range discovery employs ICMP, SNMP, SSH, and Telnet to scan devices within specific IP ranges.
• Detailed scans retrieve in-depth information using SNMP, WMI, SSH/Telnet, and other methods.

Which protocols are utilized for domain-based discovery?

Domain-based discovery relies on ARP, DNS, LDAP, WinNT, and TCP to locate resources within specified domains.

What credentials are needed for scanning?

ADE supports three types of credentials:

• Domain credentials - For accessing domain resources (username and password).
• IP Range credentials - Used for SSH/Telnet-based scans (username, password, and optional admin password).
• SNMP Community Strings - Required for SNMP-enabled devices.

Are Domain Administrator credentials required?

No, regular domain user credentials are sufficient for basic discovery. However, more detailed information, like hardware specifications, requires a user with local admin privileges.

How are the credentials stored?

Credentials are securely stored using 128-bit AES encryption in the ChangeGear registry. During use, they are encrypted in memory with the .NET System, Security, Secure String data structure and purged immediately after use.

How does ADE access stored credentials?

During a scan, ADE retrieves credentials from the registry and decrypts them. Depending on the protocol, credentials are applied securely:

• SSH credentials are transmitted over encrypted channels.
• SNMP community strings are transmitted in plain text.

Will ADE affect my network?

ADE is designed to minimize network impact. Factors such as network size, latency, and capacity affect performance. Scheduling scans during off-hours or at remote offices can reduce overhead.

Will ADE trigger my Intrusion Detection System (IDS)?

ADE does not use live exploits or "crafted" packets, making it unlikely to trigger an IDS.

Must I configure SNMP on all my devices?

No, SNMP configuration is optional. However, enabling it allows for better classification of devices (e.g., printers) and collects more detailed information.

Are there network requirements for ADE?

• Windows machines require WMI and DCOM to be running.
• Linux machines need SSH (preferred) or Telnet enabled, with password-based authentication.
• The scanning machine must also have WMI and DCOM running and be joined to a domain.