Nessus Vulnerability Scanner: Network Security Solution (2024)

FAQs

What is Nessus tool to scan the network for vulnerabilities? ›

Vulnerability scanning: Nessus scans servers for known vulnerabilities. For example, detecting outdated Software versions that may be suspectable to exploits. Credential-based scanning: Authenticated scans with login credentials provide Nessus deeper access, enhancing the accuracy of vulnerability detection.

Nessus is best for companies that want more of an off-the-shelf vulnerability scanning solution, while the open source OpenVAS is best for organizations that want more customization and integrations.

Nessus® Essentials is free to use to scan any environment, but it is limited to 16 IP addresses per scanner.

A vulnerability scan is a specialized software that an organization can deploy to inspect the target attack surface. The vulnerability scanner then compares the target network's details with a database of known vulnerabilities, which is regularly updated to include newly discovered issues.

Nessus is a vulnerability scanner, vulnerability means to scan the system weaknesses in computers and networks to identify security and improve the effectiveness of the system. Whereas, the network mapping is the first purpose of the Nmap which mapping discovers the hosts and services on the system.

Your current Nessus scanner license limits your scans to 16 live IP addresses. You've now scanned over 16 different IP addresses over time, and Nessus will not let you scan any additional hosts.

Choosing your security tools is important and it is up to you to find the tools that fit your purpose. Used by hackers, system administrators, and information security engineers, Nessus is a great all-around scanner and in the following pages you will find out how to install and use Nessus.

Pricing details

Nessus Essentials is available as a free download for students and educators to scan up to 16 IPs. Nessus Pro: $2,390 for one year, or $2,790 for one year with Advanced Support. $4,660 for two years, or $5,460 for two years with Advanced Support.

In terms of speed without active Web Application feature, Nessus performed much faster than Retina; (on the other hand, with active Web Application module, Nessus performs much slower than Retina. In terms of scan depth, Nessus has a small advantage, since it includes a web mirroring tool that is very helpful in HTTP.

Which tool is most commonly used for network scanning? ›

Nmap (Network Mapper): A versatile and free open-source tool, NMAP is popular for network discovery and security auditing. It's particularly noted for its flexibility in scanning both large networks and single hosts.

One of the most common network security issues is email-based attacks. These attacks can take many forms, but the most common is phishing. Phishing is a type of email attack that uses fraudulent emails to trick users into revealing sensitive information such as passwords or credit card numbers.

Benefits of Nessus vulnerability scanner

Organizations need to be aware of these vulnerabilities and act proactively to prevent them from harming their assets. Nessus provides a fast, user-friendly way to find and fix vulnerabilities in many kinds of IT assets, including cloud-based and virtualized resources.

Reviews of Nessus. The application is very useful in findings for vulnerabilities in the network assets and reporting them with quality reports containing where exactly the issues are found and its mitigation. Is a great product to scan systems for vulnerabilities, nice GUI and easy to manage.

Tenable Nessus is one of the industry's most reputable names in vulnerability assessment and management. It is widely used to identify and fix vulnerabilities including software flaws, missing security patches, and misconfigurations.

Vulnerability scanning tools are software applications designed to identify, assess, and report on security vulnerabilities within a company's IT infrastructure. Top vulnerability scanning tools are Invicti, Manage Engine, Intruder.Io, Synk, PingSafe, Burp Suite, Detectify, Beagle Security, and OpenVas.

Tenable Nessus Network Monitor monitors network traffic at the packet layer to determine topology, services, and vulnerabilities. Where an active scanner takes a snapshot of the network in time, Tenable Nessus Network Monitor behaves like a security motion detector on the network.

Tenable Web App Scanning provides comprehensive vulnerability scanning for modern web applications. Tenable Web App Scanning's accurate vulnerability coverage minimizes false positives and false negatives, ensuring that security teams understand the true security risks in their web applications.