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Assistant Director for Computing and Network infrastructure at SRCE
Real User
Top 10
Helps to conduct monthly scans and open tickets for developers to address identified vulnerabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "We have around 500 virtual machines. Therefore, we conduct monthly scans and open tickets for our developers to address identified vulnerabilities. These scans cover the servers, other network equipment, and appliances in our infrastructure."
  • "One significant drawback we encounter is the tool's tendency to flag patched packages incorrectly. For instance, if a package is patched by Debian maintainers but not updated to a major or minor version, Nessus may still flag it as vulnerable based on its database. This discrepancy leads to false alarms and requires our developers, system admins, and DevOps teams to address them."

What is our primary use case?

We have around 500 virtual machines. Therefore, we conduct monthly scans and open tickets for our developers to address identified vulnerabilities. These scans cover the servers, other network equipment, and appliances in our infrastructure. 

What needs improvement?

One significant drawback we encounter is the tool's tendency to flag patched packages incorrectly. For instance, if a package is patched by Debian maintainers but not updated to a major or minor version, Nessus may still flag it as vulnerable based on its database. This discrepancy leads to false alarms and requires our developers, system admins, and DevOps teams to address them. 

It would be beneficial if it could handle minor additions to versions similar to how Debian manages its patches. This feature would allow it to differentiate between patched and non-patched versions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for ten years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Tenable Nessus is very stable. We encountered some issues with scanning certain network equipment but resolved them by adjusting the parameters. Our main focus is scanning our servers; we haven't experienced any significant problems with that process.

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Tenable Nessus
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My company has three users. 

How are customer service and support?

We haven't contacted Tenable Nessus for assistance or questions because we haven't encountered any serious issues, and we are generally satisfied with the product.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We chose Tenable Nessus because we primarily rely on open-source products as a publicly funded institution. About ten years ago, we conducted research to determine the best option, and at that time, it stood out as the preferred choice.

How was the initial setup?

Tenable Nessus' deployment is straightforward. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The product is free. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate the overall product a nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2295975 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior cybersecurity engineer at a aerospace/defense firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 5
A scalable and mature solution that has excellent features and provides visibility into vulnerabilities in the environment
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a mature tool."
  • "The product must be more comprehensive."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is used to check vulnerabilities.

What is most valuable?

The product has good features. It gives us a view of the vulnerabilities like open ports and different issues with software. It is a mature tool.

What needs improvement?

The product must be more comprehensive. It must catch all the issues.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for a few years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the tool’s stability a nine out of ten. The stability could be improved.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The tool is scalable. We have three users. We need a team to maintain the product.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment can be done in-house.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend the solution to others. I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Tenable Nessus
August 2025
Learn what your peers think about Tenable Nessus. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Sereyreach Dy - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Infrastructure Engineer at NP Secure Co.,Ltd
Reseller
A vulnerability assessment tool with patch management capabilities that offers ease of deployment
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup of Tenable Nessus is very easy."
  • "The problems I faced with Tenable Nessus were related to its dashboard's customization capabilities and its ability to provide data to third-party sources."

What is our primary use case?

I use Tenable Nessus for vulnerability assessment so that you can scan for CVEs and existing CVEs. Tenable Nessus will show you the latest update on those vulnerabilities and where it needs patches, so it goes hand in hand with patch management. As soon as you scan, you can see whether it needs patching, and if needed, you can go ahead and deploy patch management to address the current issue.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of the solution are the policy and the active scan. The features are different for Tenable Security Center since it is more on an on-premises model. The solution also has features like Tenable.io and Tenable Web App Scanning.

What needs improvement?

I wouldn't want to change anything about Tenable Nessus since I haven't found or run into any issues in Tenable Nessus.

I like Tenable since I find everything related to the solution simplified and easy to use. You can approach the online community of Tenable when you run into a problem, and there is a bunch of information available there that you can gather and use for troubleshooting purposes.

I faced some problems with Tenable Nessus when dealing with some of our company's customers in China. The problems I faced with Tenable Nessus were related to its dashboard's customization capabilities and its ability to provide data to third-party sources. The solution should offer simplified data-sharing capabilities. Though we have the dashboards and can customize them, the options for customization are available in the templates provided by Tenable Nessus. It might not be possible with Tenable Nessus to add every component a person wants to a single dashboard since they can only choose whatever is available on the templates provided by Tenable Nessus. The aforementioned areas can be considered for improvement in the solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Tenable Nessus for two months. My company operates as a reseller of the product while also having a partnership with the solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Around 90 percent of our company's customers work with Tenable Nessus.

How are customer service and support?

For the solution's technical support, our company directly seeks help from the solution's vendor in Vietnam or Singapore, who are very responsive. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Tenable Nessus is very easy. You can get the application's installation file and implement it faster than ManageEngine, making it a simple process. I rate the initial setup of Tenable Nessus a nine out of ten.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

With Tenable Nessus, you have a file, and you just need to install it. In the on-premises model of the solution, you have a dashboard or console that you go to, which is like an internal website that you have set up so that you can get access to the on-premises version of the product.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I rate the product's price seven or eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price.

What other advice do I have?

Tenable Nessus is a great tool. I believe everyone should be using Tenable Nessus since it is a tool that can be used for vulnerability assessment when companies face some vulnerabilities to find security holes or threats.

I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2075424 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of IT security at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Helps with vulnerability management trafficking across an entire group
Pros and Cons
  • "I am impressed with the tool's vulnerability scanning."
  • "The tool needs to upgrade asset tracking."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for vulnerability management trafficking across an entire group. 

What is most valuable?

I am impressed with the tool's vulnerability scanning. 

What needs improvement?

The tool needs to upgrade asset tracking. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I am using the tool for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is extremely stable. I would rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I didn't encounter any issues with scalability and I would rate it a nine out of ten. We have around 3000 user endpoints that are being monitored. My company has around 20 users for the tool.

How are customer service and support?

Our local partner helps with the support. 

How was the initial setup?

I would rate the tool's setup a seven out of ten. It is not an easy setup but with proper support, the process is doable. 

What was our ROI?

The solution gives us ROI since it offers visibility and helps to tighten controls in our network. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I would like to see better discounts. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. It is one of the best tools to use if compliance is your priority. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Olajide Olusegun - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Team Lead at Atlas Security
MSP
Top 5Leaderboard
Easy to deploy, stable, and scalable solution for vulnerability scans and assessments but can be very slow
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the installation of Tenable which is incredibly easy."
  • "The accuracy of the vulnerability assessment is not up to par yet, as false alarms and false positives occur often."

What is our primary use case?

We use Tenable to scan all the workstations in our government environment for vulnerabilities and outdated software. The Tenable agents installed on the PCs enable us to detect any potential security risks or applications that are not up-to-date, malicious, or suspicious. This helps us ensure that all the PCs are secure and are in good posture.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the installation of Tenable which is incredibly easy. Even those without extensive technical knowledge can do it. All we need is the license and a few clicks through the installation process which is simple. Once the program is installed on all PCs and servers, we're good to go!

What needs improvement?

The solution can be annoyingly slow.

The pricing is a bit high. 

We would like to see the inclusion of penetration testing capabilities if possible.

Tenable has been mostly used in the on-premise environment, so it would be great if they could improve the transition to the cloud.

The accuracy of the vulnerability assessment needs improvement as false alarms and false positives occur often. Applications are often flagged as critical when they are actually benign. To improve user experience, there needs to be an upgrade in the accuracy of the results and a more user-friendly interface.

Sometimes it can be difficult to adjust the policies. When the solution has been previously installed. Making changes to policies requires navigating multiple steps. This process can be time-consuming and potentially confusing. Expert knowledge may be necessary in certain cases.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There has been an improvement over the years and the solution is now extremely stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We can easily scale up our license to support more devices. By increasing our license, we can add more workstations.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is outstanding. We encountered some difficulties during our initial deployment, yet they persisted in helping us all day long. Their support team is very competent.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. 

The deployment took us two days to install the SoC on all 100 of our workstations.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is expensive. We lost bids to competing companies due to the pricing; there are cheaper alternatives to Tenable such as Rapid7 InsightVM.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution an eight out of ten.

We have 100 workstations that all use the solution.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2002593 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Compliance Officer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Easy to use, and provides good visibility, but the user interface could be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable aspect of this solution is that you receive the entire report, which details the breakdown, especially in terms of critical, high, low, and mediums."
  • "To be honest, I haven't used it much to tell you that these are the things that should be improved. But I believe the UI should be enhanced somewhat. For example, there are two ways to find a report, and people are frequently confused as to which is the correct method for locating a full report. Sometimes they go in the opposite direction, so this is an area that may be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Every month, I had this Windows Gold image scan. I would obtain some IP addresses, create some rules, and then run them. 

Then there were the automatic automated jobs that I and my colleagues would arrange to execute. 

They would run at night so they wouldn't interrupt the systems. 

Enter some IP addresses for workstations and servers. Some were in a highly secure zone, while others were in a separate subnet, we enter those IP addresses in and run them, scheduling them to run biweekly or weekly.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable aspect of this solution is that you receive the entire report, which details the breakdown, especially in terms of critical, high, low, and mediums. It also informs you exactly what was wrong with it. Then I believe it copies the CVS's score as well.

What needs improvement?

To be honest, I haven't used it much to tell you that these are the things that should be improved. But I believe the UI should be enhanced somewhat.

For example, there are two ways to find a report, and people are frequently confused as to which is the correct method for locating a full report. Sometimes they go in the opposite direction, so this is an area that may be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Tenable Nessus for quite some time.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Tenable Nessus is pretty stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Tenable Nessus is a scalable product.

How are customer service and support?

I did not deal with technical support at all.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used Nessus from JSON for a Gold image and vulnerability scans in my previous role.

I'm also seeking the same type of tenant for internal vulnerability scans like Qualys. 

We now use Qualys, but we haven't fully utilized its features, but I'm searching for something specialized for our internal vulnerability scan program.

How was the initial setup?

I did not set it up myself, to begin with.

What other advice do I have?

It is a good tool. It's not difficult to understand. It shouldn't be an issue as long as you know what you're doing.

I would rate Tenable Nessus a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Works at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Easy to deploy, simple to use, and offers great vulnerability assessments
Pros and Cons
  • "It's scalable."
  • "It would be a good idea if they have a simulation of attacks or a use case for finding a new vulnerability or dealing with a zero-day attack."

What is our primary use case?

My company uses Tenable as a vulnerability assessment.

We use it for scanning, for the discovery of vulnerabilities in the components or the software, or on the IT infrastructure of our client.

What is most valuable?

The solution can conduct a full vulnerability assessment and also suggest mitigation of vulnerabilities and has a lot of other features. 

It creates a classification of the vulnerability and the likelihood and the impact on other features.

The solution is easy to deploy and simple to use.

It's scalable. 

The solution is stable. 

What needs improvement?

It would be a good idea if they have a simulation of attacks or a use case for finding a new vulnerability or dealing with a zero-day attack.

Right now, it works based on dealing with a vulnerability that is already detected and reported, and it would be great if they have a combination of a vulnerability that existed and another use case to have a more proactive approach to potential new issues. Therefore, doing a simulation of attacks to find a new or zero-day issue or vulnerability would be helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for more than two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable and reliable. I'd rate it four or five out of five. The performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable. I'd rate it a four or five out of five in terms of the ease of expansion. 

We would use Nessus to conduct a vulnerability assessment. How many people use the solution depends on the client. Maybe five or six people from the engineering side use it in general.

We have a new client coming on, and we will require more users on the product to conduct vulnerability assessments, so we do have plans to increase usage.

How are customer service and support?

I've never had any interaction with customer support. The solution works very well, and we haven't needed help.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. It's not overly difficult, or complex.

I cannot recall how long the deployment process took. 

What about the implementation team?

Our technical team handled the deployment. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Another department handles the licensing. I can't speak to the exact costs. I do know that we pay a yearly licensing fee. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We would like to discover other solutions and do a comparison to see the better solution for our clients. We've, for example, tried to look into Cyber XM.

What other advice do I have?

We are just end-users and customers. 

I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Md. Shahriar Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Analyst at Banglalink
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Very easy to carry out ransomware checking, OS auditing and implementation
Pros and Cons
  • "Makes ransomware checking and OS auditing and implementation relatively easy."
  • "Lacks some penetration testing-related services."

What is our primary use case?

I use this solution for OS auditing, database auditing, virtualization, and following how closely it follows our CI or TISA benchmarks. We also use it for malware and ransomware risk and for carrying out assessments. We purchased this product from a local partner that has a premium partnership with Tenable. I'm a cybersecurity and compliance lead engineer.

What is most valuable?

The solution makes ransomware checking and OS auditing and implementation relatively easy. It covers most of the requirements for benchmarks for all sorts of widely available required configuration settings in the technology industry. It's also very user-friendly, easy on the eye, and saves a lot of time. It provides us with reports that perfectly satisfy compliance requirements, whatever the device or configuration settings. 

What needs improvement?

There is very little to improve but cloud security tests would be something helpful to have. Tenable could also offer some penetration testing-related services, which would be beneficial.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Nessus for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a very stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. I use it for around 4,000 servers on a daily basis.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good. They offer expensive professional support, but I generally use the website documentation to fix things. Compared with other companies, they provide very good support. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I previously used Qualys and had a bad experience. It's not very user-friendly, licensing was difficult and deployment painful. I also used Rapid7, and I think Nessus is more user-friendly than both of those products. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very easy and took just a few hours. It's important to plan wisely before implementing. Know how many servers you have and try to project your future requirements so that you can estimate the total number of IPs you require. If the forecast is accurate, the solution is cost-efficient. We used consultants from Singapore and they installed some agents in our on-premise servers. Maintenance is very easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The global situation is very unstable and the dollar price has already increased significantly in our country in the last three or four months so everything has become expensive. Licensing is very competitive in our local markets and there's a lot of haggling that goes on. The option of a three-year license would be most beneficial for us because of the huge variations in the dollar. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution nine out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Tenable Nessus Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: August 2025
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Vulnerability Management
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Tenable Nessus Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.