Scanning Strategies: Credential-less vs Credential-based | Optimize Your Lansweeper Trial (Part 3)

After creating your site and installing Lansweeper, one of the crucial decisions to make is whether to use credential-less or credential-based scanning to discover your IT environment effectively. Learn more: https://community.lansweeper.com/t5/trial-guide/scanning-strategies-credential-less-vs-credential-based/ta-p/72273 Credential-less scanning Lansweeper employs Credential-free Device Recognition (CDR), a passive scanning to scan your devices without requiring login credentials. This method creates a unique 'fingerprint' for each device, consisting of a MAC address and enriched with data gathered from protocols such as DHCP, HTTP, or ARP. Even without credentials, CDR can identify essential information about your devices, including IP address, manufacturer, model, and operating system. For a more in-depth understanding of how CDR works, check out Credential-free Device Recognition. CDR is only one element of Lansweeper's passive scanning feature. Explore Passive Scanning to understand the principles behind it and discover how CDR plays a role in this process. Credential-based scanning While CDR is a valuable method for scanning your network, it only scratches the surface when it comes to gathering asset information. With the right credentials in place, you can access a wealth of detailed information about your devices, including hardware and software specifics, security vulnerabilities, and more. Create credentials To set up credentials for your scans, navigate to Scanning and Credential vault. In this section, you'll find both default and your own credentials. My Credentials: These are used first when scanning assets. Default Credentials: These cover all assets and are used when Lansweeper can't detect any information using your custom credentials. Depending on your specific scan targets, you will create different credentials to match your requirements. Credential Security Lansweeper takes the security of your credentials seriously and ensures the safety of your sensitive information through the following measures: Storage: Your credentials are stored in an on-premises database, keeping them under your control and protected from potential security breaches. Encryption Standards: Strong encryption standards are employed to safeguard your credentials. Decryption: Decryption of credentials is performed exclusively within Lansweeper's internal systems, guaranteeing the security of your sensitive information.