Managing Strobes Agents for Internal Scanning
Security coverage often ends where network visibility drops — inside restricted environments, air-gapped systems, or cloud-isolated virtual networks. Standard external scanners are blind to these zones, creating blind spots that attackers quietly exploit.
Strobes solves this gap with its internal scanning agent’s purpose-built components that allow secure, automated vulnerability scans within internal infrastructures. Whether it’s a legacy financial system behind a DMZ or a developer sandbox hosted on a private subnet, Strobes Agents ensure continuous internal monitoring without compromising operational boundaries.
This guide explains what these agents do, why they matter, and how they enhance your threat exposure management capabilities across internal environments.
What Are Strobes Agents?
Strobes Agents are lightweight, host-based scanning connectors designed to operate within internal or segmented environments. These agents can run as persistent services or scheduled jobs, executing scans via local CLI tools like Nessus or Nuclei and securely syncing findings to the central Strobes platform.
Key capabilities of Strobes Agents include:
- Localized scanning without requiring inbound access
- Out-of-band operation, ideal for restricted or offline environments
- Compatibility with multiple scanners installed locally
- Encrypted data transmission back to Strobes (or offline sync mode)
- Workflow-ready outputs, feeding directly into remediation systems like Jira or ServiceNow
They serve one job: bring hidden vulnerabilities into visibility efficiently, securely, and continuously.
Why Use Internal Agents?
Most scanners work well on accessible IP ranges, cloud resources, or internet-facing assets. But that’s not where all risk lives. Organizations face challenges like:
- Regulated systems (e.g., core banking, healthcare) that cannot be scanned externally
- Dev/test environments cut off from public scanning infrastructure
- Zero-trust deployments with segmented zones and strict routing
- Air-gapped or disconnected setups requiring local tooling
Without internal agents, these environments remain unscanned or require slow, manual processes involving file uploads and spreadsheets. Strobes Agents fix that with continuous, scoped, automated scanning built to run within such constraints.
What the Agent Actually Does?
Once deployed, a Strobes Agent performs five key tasks:
- Local Scan Execution: Calls a CLI-based vulnerability scanner pre-installed on the host (e.g., nessuscli, nuclei, or others).
- Finding Collection: Parses and normalizes output from each scan into Strobes-compatible format.
- Metadata Enrichment: Tags findings with local context (e.g., hostname, asset owner, environment label).
- Secure Transmission: Sends findings to the central platform via outbound-only HTTPS or allows manual export for offline sync.
- Feedback Loop Support: Tracks scan results over time, enabling SLA enforcement, fix validation, and reporting.
This keeps internal scans repeatable, consistent, and integrated into the broader vulnerability lifecycle.
How the Integration Works?
Here’s how internal scanning fits into the Strobes platform:
- Agent Registration: You generate a token via Strobes, scoped to a project, asset group, or business unit.
- Agent Installation: The agent is installed on a host within the internal network (Linux, Windows, or container).
- Scanner Configuration: You link your scanner executable path and define scan parameters in a simple config file.
- Scheduling: Agents run on a schedule (e.g., cron) or on demand.
- Data Push: Findings are securely synced to Strobes or exported as a file (for air-gapped systems).
- Automation: Based on your playbooks, findings are pushed to ticketing systems or assigned to owners.
Where It Excels?
1. Internal Visibility Without VPN Headaches
Instead of forcing scanner connectivity into restricted zones via VPN or NAT routing, deploy an agent locally. It runs as a daemon or scheduled task and communicates outbound only. This ensures compliance and minimizes operational friction.
2. Seamless Scanner Compatibility
Strobe agents are scanner-agnostic. They simply require CLI access to the underlying tool. You can use:
- Nessus for infrastructure scans
- Nuclei for templated checks
- Gitleaks for local code repo scans
- Custom scripts for business-specific checks
This flexibility lets you match scanner type to system type all under one agent framework.
3. Unified Output
Findings generated via agents are indistinguishable from cloud-scanned assets once ingested. The same risk scoring, prioritization logic, deduplication, and ticketing apply.
You get:
- Normalized data across scanner types
- Cross-tool correlation (e.g., same CVE from external and internal tools)
- SLA tracking and asset group analytics
Operational Workflow
| Phase | Action |
| Deployment | Install agent via package or container, generate a token |
| Configuration | Point to the scanner executable, define a cron job |
| Execution | Agent runs scan, parses results, and sends to Strobes |
| Automation | Triggers playbooks for ticketing or notification |
| Validation | Re-scan or manually verify to auto-close tickets |
Agents are self-maintaining and provide heartbeat data for monitoring their status inside the Strobes UI.
Ideal Use Cases
| Scenario | Benefit |
| Air-gapped environments | Run scans locally, export results manually |
| Restricted VLANs | No need for VPNs or public IP exposure |
| Compliance workflows | Demonstrate internal coverage for HIPAA, PCI, and ISO audits |
| Enterprise-wide visibility | Scan test labs, production clusters, or legacy systems uniformly |
Why This Matters?
Adding internal agent-based scanning isn’t just a technical enhancement — it changes how security teams operate.
| Challenge | Solved By |
| Unscanned internal apps | The agent runs inside the environment |
| Manual result transfer | Automated sync to the Strobes platform |
| Tool sprawl | Central aggregation across scanners |
| Missed SLAs | Integrated workflows and ticketing |
| Redundant findings | Deduplication engine with history tracking |
Security teams move from “scan and review” to “scan, sync, assign, fix” all within one pipeline.
Final Thoughts
External scans may get boardroom attention, but internal visibility determines whether attackers are already inside. Strobes Agents provide a scalable, secure, and scanner-flexible approach to closing this critical gap.
Whether you’re operating a global infrastructure or managing compliance-heavy networks, the agents ensure no part of your environment remains invisible. They integrate directly into your CTEM workflow, not as an add-on, but as a core building block.
Want help setting up your first internal scan agent?
Contact us, and our technical team will guide you through deployment, scanner mapping, and workflow automation.
The post Managing Strobes Agents for Internal Scanning appeared first on Strobes Security.
*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Strobes Security authored by strobes. Read the original post at: https://strobes.co/blog/managing-strobes-agents-for-internal-scanning/
