Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This book focuses on installing, configuring and optimizing Nessus, which is a remote security scanner for Linux, BSD, Solaris, and other Unices. It is plug-in-based, has a GTK interface, and performs over 1200 remote security checks. It allows for reports to be generated in HTML, XML, LaTeX, and ASCII text, and suggests solutions for security problems. As with many open source programs, Nessus is incredibly popular, incredibly powerful, and incredibly under-documented. There are many Web sites (including nessus.org) where thousands of users congregate to share tips, tricks, and hints, yet no single, comprehensive resource exists. This book, written by Nessus lead developers, will document all facets of deploying Nessus on a production network.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. xxvii)
• Chapter 1 Vulnerability Assessment (p. 1)
• Introduction (p. 2)
• What Is a Vulnerability Assessment? (p. 2)
• Why a Vulnerability Assessment? (p. 4)
• Assessment Types (p. 5)
• Automated Assessments (p. 7)
• Stand-Alone vs. Subscription (p. 8)
• The Assessment Process (p. 9)
• Two Approaches (p. 15)
• Administrative Approach (p. 15)
• The Outsider Approach (p. 16)
• The Hybrid Approach (p. 17)
• Realistic Expectations (p. 19)
• The Limitations of Automation (p. 21)
• Summary (p. 22)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 23)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 24)
• Chapter 2 Introducing Nessus (p. 27)
• Introduction (p. 28)
• What Is It? (p. 28)
• The De Facto Standard (p. 29)
• History (p. 32)
• Basic Components (p. 34)
• Client and Server (p. 35)
• The Plugins (p. 38)
• The Knowledge Base (p. 39)
• Summary (p. 40)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 40)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 42)
• Chapter 3 Installing Nessus (p. 45)
• Introduction (p. 46)
• Quick Start Guide (p. 46)
• Nessus on Linux (suse/redhat/mandrake/gentoo/debian) (p. 48)
• Nessus on Solaris (p. 51)
• Picking a Server (p. 52)
• Supported Operating Systems (p. 53)
• Minimal Hardware Specifications (p. 53)
• Network Location (p. 54)
• Source or Binary (p. 55)
• Installation from Source (p. 57)
• Software Prerequisites (p. 57)
• Obtaining the Latest Version (p. 57)
• The Four Components (p. 58)
• ./configure (p. 60)
• Configuring Nessus (p. 65)
• Creating the User Account (p. 67)
• Installing a Client (p. 75)
• Using the GTK Client (p. 76)
• Using the Windows Client (p. 77)
• Command-Line Mode (p. 79)
• Updating to the Latest Plugins (p. 79)
• Summary (p. 81)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 81)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 84)
• Chapter 4 Running Your First Scan (p. 85)
• Introduction (p. 86)
• Preparing for Your First Scan (p. 87)
• Authorization (p. 87)
• Risk vs. Benefit (p. 87)
• Starting the Nessus Client (p. 90)
• Plugins (p. 92)
• Enable Specific Plugins (p. 93)
• Using the Plugin Filter (p. 97)
• Plugin Categories (p. 99)
• Plugin Information (p. 100)
• Preferences (p. 100)
• Specify the Host Ping (p. 100)
• Configuring WWW Checks (p. 101)
• NIDS Evasion (p. 103)
• Brute Force with Hydra (p. 104)
• The SMB Scope (p. 105)
• Configuring Login Credentials (p. 105)
• Configuring SNMP (p. 107)
• Configuring Nmap (p. 107)
• Scan Options (p. 111)
• The Port Range (p. 112)
• Unscanned Ports (p. 112)
• Performance: Host and Process Count (p. 113)
• Optimized Checks (p. 113)
• Safe Checks Mode (p. 113)
• Report by MAC Address (DHCP) (p. 114)
• Detached Scan (p. 114)
• Send Results to This E-mail Address (p. 115)
• Continuous Scan (p. 115)
• Configure the Port Scanner (p. 115)
• Target Selection (p. 118)
• How to Select Targets (p. 119)
• Common Scanning Issues (Printers, etc.) (p. 120)
• Defining a Target Range (p. 120)
• Using Zone Transfers (Bad Idea!) (p. 122)
• Automatic Session Saving (p. 122)
• User Information (p. 122)
• Knowledge Base (Basics) (p. 123)
• Starting the Scan (p. 123)
• Summary (p. 126)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 126)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 129)
• Chapter 5 Interpreting Results (p. 133)
• Introduction (p. 134)
• The Nessus UI Basics (p. 134)
• Viewing Results Using the Nessus GUI Client for X (p. 134)
• Viewing Results Using the Nessus WX Client for Windows (p. 143)
• New Nessus Client (p. 153)
• Reading a Nessus Report (p. 154)
• Understanding Vulnerabilities (p. 155)
• Understanding Risk (p. 156)
• Understanding Scanner Logic (p. 158)
• Key Report Elements (p. 161)
• Factors that Can Affect Scanner Output (p. 171)
• Forums and Mailing Lists (p. 182)
• Summary (p. 183)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 183)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 185)
• Chapter 6 Vulnerability Types (p. 187)
• Introduction (p. 188)
• Critical Vulnerabilities (p. 188)
• Buffer Overflows (p. 190)
• Directory Traversal (p. 191)
• Format String Attacks (p. 192)
• Default Passwords (p. 194)
• Misconfigurations (p. 195)
• Known Backdoors (p. 196)
• Information Leaks (p. 196)
• Memory Disclosure (p. 198)
• Network Information (p. 198)
• Version Information (p. 199)
• Path Disclosure (p. 200)
• User Enumeration (p. 201)
• Denial of Service (p. 202)
• Best Practices (p. 204)
• Summary (p. 206)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 206)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 208)
• Chapter 7 False Positives (p. 211)
• Introduction (p. 212)
• What Are False Positives? (p. 212)
• Why False Positives Matter (p. 215)
• False Positives Waste Your Time (p. 216)
• False Positives Waste Others' Time (p. 216)
• False Positives Cost Credibility (p. 216)
• Generic Approaches to Testing (p. 217)
• The Nessus Approach to Testing (p. 219)
• Dealing with False Positives (p. 221)
• Dealing with Noise (p. 221)
• Analyzing the Report (p. 222)
• False Positives, and Your Part in Their Downfall (p. 225)
• Dealing with a False Positive (p. 226)
• Disabling a Nessus Plugin (p. 227)
• False Positives and Web Servers-Dealing with Friendly 404s (p. 233)
• Summary (p. 236)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 236)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 237)
• Chapter 8 Under the Hood (p. 239)
• Introduction (p. 240)
• Nessus Architecture and Design (p. 241)
• Host Detection (p. 246)
• Service Detection (p. 248)
• Information Gathering (p. 251)
• Vulnerability Fingerprinting (p. 254)
• Denial-of-Service Testing (p. 258)
• Putting It All Together (p. 259)
• Summary (p. 266)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 266)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 268)
• Chapter 9 The Nessus Knowledge Base (p. 271)
• Introduction (p. 272)
• Knowledge Base Basics (p. 272)
• What Is the Knowledge Base? (p. 272)
• Where the Knowledge Base Is Stored (p. 274)
• Using the Knowledge Base (p. 274)
• Information Exchange (p. 280)
• How Plugins Use the Knowledge Base to Share Data (p. 280)
• The Type of Data that Is Stored (p. 288)
• Dependency Trees (p. 288)
• Limitations (p. 289)
• Using get_kb_item and fork (p. 289)
• Summary (p. 292)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 292)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 294)
• Chapter 10 Enterprise Scanning (p. 295)
• Introduction (p. 296)
• Planning a Deployment (p. 296)
• Define Your Needs (p. 296)
• Network Topology (p. 302)
• Bandwidth Requirements (p. 303)
• Automating the Procedure (p. 312)
• Configuring Scanners (p. 316)
• Assigning the Tasks (p. 316)
• System Requirements (p. 319)
• Scanning for a Specific Threat (p. 321)
• Best Practices (p. 324)
• Data Correlation (p. 326)
• Combining Reports (p. 326)
• Differential Reporting (p. 334)
• Filtering Reports (p. 345)
• Third-Party Tools (p. 347)
• Common Problems (p. 350)
• Aggressive Scanning (p. 350)
• Volatile Applications (p. 352)
• Printer Problems (p. 354)
• Scanning Workstations (p. 355)
• Summary (p. 358)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 358)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 360)
• Chapter 11 NASL (p. 363)
• Introduction (p. 364)
• Why NASL? (p. 364)
• Why Do You Want to Write (and Publish) Your Own NASL Scripts? (p. 367)
• Structure of a NASL Script (p. 368)
• The Description Section (p. 369)
• An Introduction to the NASL Language (p. 374)
• Writing Your First Script (p. 375)
• More Advanced Scripting (p. 383)
• The NASL Protocol APIs (p. 387)
• The Nessus Knowledge Base (p. 393)
• Summary (p. 395)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 395)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 396)
• Chapter 12 The Nessus User Community (p. 399)
• Introduction (p. 400)
• The Nessus Mailing Lists (p. 400)
• Subscribing to a Mailing List (p. 402)
• Sending a Message to a Mailing List (p. 404)
• Accessing a List's Archives (p. 406)
• The Online Plugin Database (p. 407)
• Staying Abreast of New Plugins (p. 409)
• Reporting Bugs via Bugzilla (p. 409)
• Querying Existing Bug Reports (p. 410)
• Creating and Logging In to a Bugzilla Account (p. 412)
• Submitting a Bug Report (p. 413)
• Submitting Patches and Plugins (p. 416)
• Submitting Patches (p. 416)
• Submitting Plugins (p. 416)
• Where to Get More Information and Help (p. 417)
• Summary (p. 418)
• Solutions Fast Track (p. 418)
• Frequently Asked Questions (p. 420)
• Appendix A The NASL2 Reference Manual (p. 423)
• 1 Introduction (p. 424)
• 1.1 History (p. 424)
• 1.2 Differences between NASL1 and NASL2 (p. 424)
• 1.3 Copyright (p. 425)
• 1.4 Comments (p. 425)
• 2 The NASL2 grammar (p. 425)
• 2.1 Preliminary remarks (p. 425)
• 2.2 Syntax (p. 425)
• 2.3 Types (p. 430)
• 2.4 Operators (p. 431)
• 2.5 Precedence (p. 435)
• 2.6 Loops and control flow (p. 436)
• 2.7 Declarations (p. 437)
• 3 The NASL2 library (p. 439)
• 3.1 Predefined constants (p. 439)
• 3.2 Built-in functions (p. 441)
• 3.3 NASL library (p. 466)
• 4 Hacking your way inside the interpretor (p. 477)
• 4.1 How it works (p. 477)
• 4.2 Adding new internal functions (p. 478)
• 4.3 Adding new features to the grammar (p. 481)
• 4.4 Checking the result (p. 481)
• References (p. 481)
• Endnotes (p. 482)
• Appendix B Utilizing Domain Credentials to Enhance Nessus Scans (p. 487)
• Overview (p. 488)
• Account Creation and Configuration (p. 488)
• Manual Modifications (p. 489)
• Nessus Scan Configuration (p. 492)
• Comparing Scan Results (p. 494)
• Comparing Scan 1 with Scan 2 (p. 494)
• Comparing Scan 2 with Scan 3 (p. 495)
• Conclusion (p. 495)
• Index (p. 497)