What do benchmarks primarily contain?

Benchmarks primarily consist of OVALs, known as the Open Vulnerability Assessment Language, which provide a standardized approach for expressing and sharing information about vulnerabilities, configuration issues, and security best practices. OVALs help organizations assess the security posture of their systems by defining specific tests to check against known vulnerabilities and security configurations. This makes them essential tools for vulnerability assessment in the context of network security.

The other options do not align directly with the primary focus of benchmarks. Data encryption protocols represent specific methods for securing data but do not encompass the broad assessment framework that benchmarks provide. Network mapping diagrams are useful for visualizing network topologies and identifying potential vulnerabilities within the network structure but are not the foundational components of benchmarks. System installation manuals provide guidance on deploying systems but do not contain the assessment and evaluation criteria needed for benchmarking security practices.