Top 10 Vulnerability Scanners Every Security Professional Should Know

In this article we introduce the ten best vulnerability scanning tools available on the market.

OpenVAS Tripwire IP360 Nessus Comodo HackerProof Nexpose community Vulnerability Manager Plus Nikto Wireshark Aircrack-ng Retina

1. OpenVAS

OpenVAS is a comprehensive vulnerability analysis tool that can scan servers and network devices. It probes open ports, misconfigurations and known vulnerabilities, generates a report and can email it for further review. It can also be run from an external server to simulate an attacker, helping improve network monitoring and incident response.

2. Tripwire IP360

Tripwire IP360 is a leading vulnerability‑management solution that discovers all assets—including on‑premises, cloud and container workloads. It uses agents to reduce scanning overhead and integrates with vulnerability and risk management platforms, enabling a holistic security approach.

3. Nessus

Nessus Professional from Tenable is aimed at security professionals to detect missing patches, software flaws, malware, adware and misconfigurations across operating systems and applications. It identifies vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them and supports physical, virtual and cloud infrastructures. Tenable was also a Gartner Peer Insights preferred choice in early 2020.

4. Comodo HackerProof

Comodo HackerProof offers powerful daily scanning with PCI‑compliant options, driver‑attack prevention and site‑checking technology, providing next‑generation web scanning and a security rating for users.

5. Nexpose Community

Nexpose Community, developed by Rapid7, is an open‑source scanner covering most network checks. It integrates with the Metasploit framework, provides risk scores (1‑1000) for discovered threats, and offers a one‑year free trial.

6. Vulnerability Manager Plus

Vulnerability Manager Plus by ManageEngine provides attacker‑centric analysis, automatic scanning, impact assessment, software risk evaluation, configuration error detection, patch management, zero‑day mitigation and web‑server penetration testing. It is free for up to 25 devices.

7. Nikto

Nikto is a free online scanner that enumerates server capabilities, versions, and tests for threats and malware across protocols (HTTPS, HTTP, etc.). It can scan multiple ports quickly and is valued for its efficiency and server hardening features.

8. Wireshark

Wireshark is a powerful network protocol analyzer used by governments, enterprises, healthcare and other sectors. It offers a three‑pane packet browser, GUI data view, advanced filters, VoIP analysis, and decryption support for Kerberos, WEP, SSL/TLS, etc., and runs on Linux, macOS and Windows.

9. Aircrack-ng

Aircrack-ng helps secure Wi‑Fi networks by performing audits, capturing packets, and cracking keys. It supports NetBSD, Windows, macOS, Linux and Solaris, and includes drivers and GPU acceleration for replay attacks.

10. Retina

Retina is a web‑based open‑source vulnerability management platform that handles patching, compliance, configuration and reporting for databases, workstations, servers and web applications. It supports VCenter integration, virtual‑environment scanning, and provides cross‑platform vulnerability assessment.