Security Administrator Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA Security+™ Skills, Third Edition

Task 8.1: Penetration Testing with Nessus

Nessus, owned by Tenable Network Security, Inc., was developed in 1998 and has grown to be the world’s most well-known security scanner. Its primary purpose is to alert the user to security holes and vulnerabilities in scanned systems. It can be used to scan Windows, Linux, or other operating systems. It uses a client-server technology so that Nessus servers can be placed throughout the network and then be contacted when they are needed by Nessus clients to perform scans. Nessus is an open source product, which means it is free to use without you paying a license fee.

Scenario

Your employer has asked that you scan the organization’s systems for vulnerabilities and known exploits. Your employer does not ...