Tenable Network Security Introduces Agent-Based Scanning to 2015 Product Line with Debut of Nessus Manager
February 16, 2015 · Columbia, MD
Nessus® Agents simplify, automate and extend vulnerability management capabilities by performing offline scans of portable devices without the need for privileged credentials
Tenable Network Security®, Inc., the leader in continuous network monitoring, today announced new capabilities for its award-winning line of cybersecurity products with the availability of agent-based scanning in Nessus Manager, a new and improved version of Tenable’s award-winning Nessus vulnerability management platform designed with enterprise users in mind.
With Nessus Agents, enterprises and government agencies can achieve and maintain compliance with security policies by discovering and assessing transient network assets and detecting vulnerabilities even when devices are not connected to the network.
“By overcoming the barriers that credentialed access and intermittent availability of portable devices creates for security scanning, Nessus Agents help you find vulnerabilities on your network that you didn’t know existed,” said Ron Gula, CEO, Tenable Network Security. “The introduction of this new technology across Tenable’s product lines is an important advance in helping customers monitor everything happening on their networks and helping them evaluate performance of existing cybersecurity investments.”
Nessus Manager extends the power of Nessus with centralized management of distributed scanners and collaboration features for the entire enterprise.
“With Nessus Manager,” said Gula, “we now place full control in the hands of the Nessus administrator to share the power of Nessus with their information security staff across the entire enterprise from a single console, saving both time and money.”
Nessus Agents
Nessus Agents are lightweight, self-contained vulnerability assessment tools that run remotely on any Windows device — including laptops, mobile devices, and virtual systems along with desktops and servers. After downloading instructions, the agent performs a low-impact scan on schedule whether the host device is connected to the network or not. The agent collects vulnerability and configuration information and sends the results to a central Nessus server the next time the device is connected to the network for a more complete view of asset configuration and compliance.
“In today’s BYOD and work-from-home business environment, assets tend to come and go from the network and may not be connected during scheduled assessments,” said Renaud Deraison, chief product officer, Tenable Network Security. “Nessus Agents can scan portable devices and provide offline scanning for assets and vulnerable client-side software that may be unavailable during scheduled scan windows.”
The power of Nessus Agents lies in the ability to blend local and remote auditing in a single product, and eliminating the need for credentialed searches—no more opening the password vault to provision device-specific scans.
“You can install agents on all desktops, servers, and portable devices without the headache of remotely managing privileged scan credentials,” said Gula. “This means you can schedule your vulnerability assessment over multiple days while protecting credentials and closing security gaps. Customers gain visibility into blind spots that were previously unavailable for vulnerability and configuration assessments.”
Agent-based assessment is supported on Windows platforms with additional operating systems on the way. Nessus Agents are available now in Nessus Manager and are expected to roll out in other Tenable products, including SecurityCenter Continuous View™, later this year.
Nessus Manager
The newest addition to the Nessus product line is designed with the enterprise in mind and provides full service scanner management, including collaboration, centralized administration and improved scheduling for multiple scanners. With Nessus Manager, vulnerability assessments can be scheduled over a number of days to ensure that all assets are discovered and assessed for comprehensive network visibility. Assessments can also be repeated multiple times for optimum protection and results can be shared with administrators across the organization.
Nessus Manager provides four user levels for managed access to resources based on user/group permissions. Role-based access enables sharing of scanners, schedules, policies, and results with system administrators and co-workers who are responsible for patching and remediating their systems. This collaborative feature makes scanning and auditing more efficient, freeing up time and resources.
Current Nessus customers can update their deployments from the Tenable Support Portal. At renewal time, existing Nessus Enterprise customers can upgrade to Nessus Manager at no additional charge. New customers can request an evaluation of Nessus Manager from the Nessus Download page.
For more information about Nessus Manager or Nessus Agents, please visit the resources below:
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