Kali Linux – Assuring Security by Penetration Testing

Open Vulnerability Assessment System (OpenVAS)

The OpenVAS is a wrapper for a collection of security tools and services that, when combined, produces a powerful vulnerability management platform. It has been developed on the basis of a client-server architecture, where the client requests a specific set of network vulnerability tests against its target from the server. Its modular and robust design allows us to run the security tests in parallel; it is available for a number of operating systems (Linux/Win32). Let us take a look at the core components and functions of OpenVAS:

• OpenVAS scanner: This effectively manages the execution of Network Vulnerability Tests (NVT). The new test plugins can be updated on a daily basis via NVT Feeds (http://www.openvas.org/nvt-feeds.html ...