Vulnerabilities are increasing by the day, and networks are becoming increasingly difficult to secure. Vulnerability assessments have become the preferred, mandatory method for managing security flaws for many organizations who care about their reputation. Network vulnerability assessments provide quick identification and a 360-degree view of security weaknesses on a given network, supplemented by host assessment. There are many automated tools that are available to detect and report all critical vulnerabilities. The approach, the way these systems are designed and the techniques they use for vulnerability tests may vary widely. As vulnerability scanning usually targets specific hosts or a range of hosts, it often conducts a deeper inspection than network scanners, identifying software versions, operating systems, specific software applications and services, and system configuration attributes.

In this chapter, we have explored how to install the Nessus VA tool and different settings...