Types of Nessus Scans
Nessus supports various types of scans to address different aspects of security assessments. Here are some common types of scans in Nessus:
- Network Scans: It identifies vulnerabilities in network devices, servers and infrastructure. Example: scanning a range of IP addresses to identify open ports, services and potential vulnerabilities on networked devices.
- Web Application Scans: It focuses on identifying vulnerabilities in web applications and services. Example: examining a website for common web application vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS) and security misconfigurations.
- Credential Scans: It uses provided credentials to perform authenticated scans for a more in-depth assessment. Example: logging into a server using valid credentials to assess the system from an internal perspective, identifying vulnerabilities that may not be visible externally.
- Patch Management Scans: Nessus searches for vulnerable software fixes and out-of-date versions that could be used by hackers. It assists companies in making sure that their systems have the most recent security fixes installed.
- Web-based Application Scans: Web applications can be scanned by Nessus for common security flaws like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS) and other vulnerabilities that could compromise the application’s security.
- Mobile Device Scans: The purpose of this kind of scan is to assess the safety status of mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones. It looks for setup errors and security holes that hackers aiming for mobile platforms might exploit.
Explain Nessus tool in security testing
Nessus is a widely used vulnerability scanning tool in the field of cyber security and security testing. Nessus is a platform developed by Tenable that scans for security vulnerabilities in devices, applications, operating systems, cloud services, and other network resources. It is a remote security scanning tool, which scans a computer and raises an alert if it discovers any vulnerabilities that malicious hackers could use to gain access to any computer, that you have connected with any network. It does this by running over 1200 checks on a given computer, to see if any of these attacks could be used to break into the computer or otherwise harm it.