PARLAR | Nessus

NESSUS VULNERABILITY SCANNER

Nessus is one of the most comprehensive and widely-used vulnerability scanners in the cybersecurity industry, developed by Tenable. It helps identify vulnerabilities, configuration issues, and malware that attackers could potentially exploit in your network.

Why Security Professionals Trust Nessus

With over 2 million downloads worldwide, Nessus is the gold standard for vulnerability assessment, offering unmatched detection capabilities with minimal false positives.

Key Capabilities

Vulnerability Detection

Identify over 65,000 CVEs and security vulnerabilities with industry-leading accuracy

Configuration Auditing

Verify compliance with security policies and industry standards

Malware Detection

Detect malware and backdoors on systems through various scanning techniques

Sensitive Data Exposure

Identify sensitive data exposed in your environment

HOW NESSUS WORKS

Nessus employs a comprehensive scanning architecture to detect vulnerabilities across your network:

Discovery Phase - Nessus identifies live hosts and open ports in the target network
Enumeration Phase - Gathers information about services, systems, and applications
Vulnerability Assessment - Runs thousands of checks against discovered services
Reporting - Provides detailed reports with remediation guidance

Scan Types Available in Nessus

Nessus offers various specialized scans to address different security needs:

Basic Network Scan - Standard vulnerability scan for most use cases
Advanced Scan - Deep inspection with customisable options
Credentialed Scan - Uses login credentials for deeper system access
Web Application Scan - Specifically targets web application vulnerabilities
Compliance Checks - Verifies systems against security standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, etc.

NESSUS FAQ

Nessus Essentials (formerly Home) is free but limited to scanning 16 IP addresses. Nessus Professional removes this limitation and adds advanced features like compliance checks, offline scanning capabilities, and priority support.

Not at all. Nessus features a user-friendly web interface and can be installed on Windows, macOS, or Linux. The setup wisard guides you through the process, and most scans work with minimal configuration.

Best practice is to run regular scans - weekly for critical infrastructure and monthly for less-critical assets. Additionally, you should scan after any significant network changes or patching operations.

Nessus has one of the lowest false positive rates in the industry. When false positives do occur, you can mark findings as false positives within the interface, and Nessus learns from these designations to improve accuracy.

BEST PRACTICES

Getting the Most Out of Nessus

Follow these tips to maximize the effectiveness of your Nessus deployment:

Use credentialed scans whenever possible for deeper insight
Segment your network into scanning zones to manage large environments
Schedule scans during off-peak hours to minimize impact
Create baseline scans to track security improvements over time
Integrate Nessus findings with your ticketing/remediation workflow

Ready to elevate your security posture?

Request Vulnerability Assessment