1. Nessus
Description:
- Nessus is a widely used vulnerability scanner developed by Tenable. It can identify a range of vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and patch management issues in network devices, web servers, and databases. Nessus requires installation and is available in both free (Nessus Essentials) and commercial versions.
Examples:
- Installing Nessus:
- Download Nessus from Tenable’s website.
- Install it using:
- sudo dpkg -i Nessus-<version>.deb
- Start the Nessus service:
- sudo systemctl start nessusd
- Installing Nessus:
Explanation: Nessus needs to be downloaded from Tenable, installed, and then started as a service.
- Launching a Basic Scan:
- Access the Nessus web interface by navigating to https://localhost:8834.
- Create a new “Basic Network Scan” and add the target IP addresses or range.
- Configuring and Running a Policy Scan:
- Create a new scan policy to specify custom scan settings, such as ports to scan, authentication methods, and plugin selection.
- After configuring the policy, run the scan and generate a report on the vulnerabilities found. Explanation: Policies allow you to customize the types of scans you perform, which can include full vulnerability assessments, compliance checks, or targeted scans for specific weaknesses.
- Launching a Basic Scan: