Nessus is a vulnerability scanner, a program that looks for security bugs in software. There is a freely available open source version which runs on Unix. Tenable Security has also recently released a commercial version for Windows called Newt. Boasting over 1200 checks for individual security vulnerabilities, Nessus is a wonderful tool to help track down and eliminate security problems.

This article, the second in the series, will attempt to provide direction through the actual scanning process, general logic and rules of thumbs for parameter choices in different situations. If unfamiliar with Nessus, a reading of the first article will provide needed background information.

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Related items

• Software: Nessus
• Article: Nessus Scanning on Windows Domain (10 November 2003)
• Article: Interview with Brian Hatch, author of "Hacking Exposed Linux" (30 June 2003)