Passive Vulnerability Scanner now available

Tenable Network Security has announced that its patented Passive Vulnerability Scanner™ (PVS™) 4.0 is now generally available as a standalone product. Already available as part of Tenable’s SecurityCenter continuous monitoring platform, PVS 4.0 can now be used by any company, security specialist or compliance auditor to monitor networks in real-time, in a non-intrusive manner.

“PVS goes beyond traditional scanning. We use it to find anomalous indicators after a breach. It also allows us to provide valuable prevention services to our clients,” said Reg Harnish, Chief security strategist of GreyCastle Security, a security consulting firm who provides incident response, pen testing, and on-going professional services to enterprise clients. “The Tenable brand is a tremendous selling point for our customers, and that level of brand recognition has been important in building our business.”

Using network sniffing technology, PVS 4.0 uniquely identifies and assesses transient systems—like mobile, virtual and cloud apps—that may not be present during scheduled scans, and pinpoints potential security and compliance risks. PVS 4.0 also monitors systems sensitive to disruption, uncovers inappropriate use and insider threats, and eliminates gaps between active scans. PVS scanners are invaluable as dedicated servers within your network and at customer sites deployed by consultants.

“By supplementing a Nessus active scan-based strategy with PVS 4.0, companies can significantly lower their overall security risk, increase compliance and avoid costly security breaches,” said Ron Gula, CEO of Tenable Network Security.”

The new features available in PVS 4.0 include:
· Improved Interface: HTML5 Web-based Interface optimised for mobile
· Simplified Installation: Guided by an installation wizard
· Optimised to run on portable systems
· Web-based Data Export: Supported file formats include .csv, .nessus and .html
· Automatic snapshots: Network discovery and vulnerability data provides visibility into changes over time
Vulnerability scanning is a cornerstone of IT security and has become a regulatory compliance standard today. Over the last few years, scanning has risen in priority as confirmed by the first four controls in the SANS Top 20 Critical Controls.