Company Overview
Nessus was created by Renaud Deraison in 1998, originally as an open-source project, before being acquired by Tenable and becoming a commercial product. Nessus is the world's most widely deployed vulnerability scanner, used extensively by security teams, penetration testers, and compliance auditors. It is now a core product line of Tenable (founded in 2002).
Nessus is renowned for its massive plugin library and comprehensive vulnerability coverage, supporting vulnerability detection and compliance assessment across network devices, operating systems, databases, web applications, and cloud environments.
Related provider: Nessus Vulnerability Scanning
Core Products
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
| Nessus Professional | Professional vulnerability scanner for security analysts and penetration testers |
| Nessus Expert | Extended edition covering web applications, cloud environments, and OT scanning |
| Nessus Agents | Remote scanning agents for distributed and offline environments |
| Nessus Cloud | Cloud-based vulnerability management platform |
| Nessus Network Monitor | Continuous network traffic monitoring and threat detection |
| Nessus API | Automation integration interface supporting CI/CD pipeline integration |
| Tenable Vulnerability Management | Tenable's unified VM platform powered by Nessus engine |
Key Milestones
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1998 | Nessus project created by Renaud Deraison as open-source software |
| 2002 | Tenable Network Security founded, Nessus transitions to commercial product |
| 2005 | Nessus 3 released, license changed from GPL to proprietary |
| 2012 | Nessus becomes the most widely deployed vulnerability scanner worldwide |
| 2016 | Tenable launches Nessus Cloud and Nessus Agents |
| 2022 | Tenable releases Nessus Expert, expanding cloud and OT scanning |
| 2026 | Nessus maintains global leadership in vulnerability scanning market |
Market Position
Nessus holds a leadership position in the vulnerability assessment and security management market, competing with the following vendors:
| Competitor | Description |
|---|---|
| Qualys VM | Cloud-based vulnerability management platform with agentless scanning |
| Rapid7 InsightVM | Rapid7's vulnerability risk management platform |
| OpenVAS (Greenbone) | Open-source vulnerability scanner, an open-source alternative to Nessus |
| Nexpose (Rapid7) | Rapid7's legacy vulnerability scanning solution |
| CrowdStrike Falcon | EDR platform with partial vulnerability assessment coverage |
| Microsoft Defender | Microsoft security suite with built-in vulnerability management |
Core Strengths
Industry Standard Scanner: The world's most widely used vulnerability scanning tool, trusted by tens of thousands of security teams
Massive Plugin Library: Over 180,000 vulnerability detection plugins covering CVE, CIS, PCI DSS and more
Flexible Deployment: Supports on-premises, cloud, and hybrid deployment modes
Deep Integration: Rich API and third-party integrations supporting SOC and SIEM toolchains
Continuous Updates: Regular plugin library updates with rapid response to newly disclosed vulnerabilities
