Nessus Network Auditing, 2nd Edition

Chapter 8

Under the Hood

Solutions in this chapter:

■ Nessus Architecture and Design

■ Host Detection

■ Service Detection

■ Information Gathering

■ Vulnerability Fingerprinting

■ Denial-of-Service Testing

■ Putting It All Together

☑ Summary

☑ Solutions Fast Track

☑ Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

To really understand Nessus, you have to know how its internal logic works and how it behaves on your network. This chapter describes how each stage of a Nessus scan is performed, with particular attention to the internal programming design of Nessus. Once you understand the logic behind the code, you will find it easier to diagnose problems relating to your scan, to create custom plugins, and to answer questions about why Nessus did or did not ...