What is a characteristic of anomaly-based scanners?

Anomaly-based scanners are designed to identify deviations from established baselines of normal behavior within a system or network. This means that they analyze typical patterns of activity and raise flags when they detect anomalies, which can include behaviors that aren't necessarily malicious but are different from the norm.

This characteristic allows them to spot potential threats that signature-based systems might miss because they rely on known patterns or signatures of malware. Consequently, anomaly-based scanners can sometimes mark legitimate activities as threats simply because those activities fall outside of the expected baseline. This characteristic highlights their proactive approach to security, as they are looking for unusual behavior rather than waiting for recognized malware signatures.

The nature of their operation means they can contribute to a higher rate of false positives because benign actions that vary from typical patterns might be misinterpreted as malicious. This approach emphasizes the system's ability to detect not just established threats, but also new and unknown exploits that may not yet have a signature associated with them.