The best #1 Network Security Scanner- Top Options

Finding the best #1 Network Security Scanner can be very difficult for those who have only just entered the industry and are unaware of the different types of network security scanners that are available within the network. Installing a network security scanner on your network can help you relieve a world of pain and problems; people who do not install network security scanners generally find that their networks get infected with the vast numbers of different viruses and Trojans that are available. Moreover, without appropriate network security, anybody can gain access to your network with ease. Therefore if you wish to maintain the security and privacy of your network, investing in a good network security scanner will be a great idea. Here are a few of the best Network security scanners that you can use, and mostly all of them are free!

Open VAS

The Open Vulnerability Assessment System, also known as Open VAS is one of the finest, and free to use network security scanner platform that provides a vast number of different options to the end consumer. Most of the components that are used in the Open VAS are licensed under the General Public License, and the main component can be easily downloaded through numerous different Linux Packages, or can also be downloaded as a Virtual Appliance for evaluation and testing purposes. You can first download the main component as a Virtual Appliance, install it on your network and check to ensure that it works smoothly, and then download the full component. It should be known however that the Open VAS scanner does not work on the Windows network, however the company does offer numerous clients for Windows.

Open VAS receives a feed that is updated on a daily basis through Network Vulnerability Tests, and is capable of scanning more than 33,000 components in total. The scanner also comes with an Open VAS Manager Control system, that is able to control the scanner and provide the intelligence for the scanner itself.

Penetrator Scanner Community

Another top of the line Network Security Scanner is the Penetrator Community that provides vulnerability scanning as well as patching for Microsoft and numerous other third party applications, like Firefox and Adobe. It can provide patching for a maximum of 256 IPs without any charge. Penetrator Community Network Security Scanner also provides support for vulnerabilities that might exist in mobile devices, virtualized applications, private clouds as well as servers, etc. The Penetrator Community is able to search for network vulnerabilities, configuration issues as well as missing patches.

If you install the Penetrator Community software, you will basically just be provided with the essential patching functionality. To install the network security scanner, you will have to install the Network Community, which will provide vulnerability scanning, and this is a separate component than the Penetrator Community Software. The Security Scanner Community can be installed upon the Windows Server 2008 or any later version, and also requires the presence of .NET Framework 3.5 or higher to work. It should also be IIS enabled, and requires Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or later version to be installed. It should be known however that installing the Penetrator Community on Domain Servers or Small Business Servers is not a supported option.