Foreword

Nessus and Nmap are among the most useful tools that a pentester relies on. However, it is difficult to find detailed information on how to use these tools and their rich set of features. This book covers all such aspects, ranging right from installation to configuration and execution. This book will help you gain mastery over some of the lesser known but very handy features of these tools, including how to use Nmap in a network with high latency and how to perform time-throttled scanning.

The book includes several real-life scenarios encountered by the author as part of his numerous ethical hacking assignments, making the content relevant and insightful for first-time users looking to gain confidence as well as those who are perhaps more seasoned.

If you are looking to master compliance scanning using Nessus and want to tweak things to meet your custom requirements, look no further—this book will help you understand this feature in detail and make the best of it. Another feature that would be of interest to security enthusiasts and that is covered in this book, is Nmap custom scripting, which is indispensable for when you want to create scripts where official scripts are not available.

Several such features are covered in the experience that the author shares with you, and they will not only help you understand the need for such advanced tools and capabilities, but will also equip you with what you need to master them.

Sairam is a veteran in the network and application security testing domain. With more than 5 years' experience in executing security projects for enterprise customers across the globe, he has really pushed the limits when it comes to use of the domain's tools. I am sure that you will gain a number of insights into the use of these tools and the real-world scenarios where each of these features can be applied.

Jose Varghese
EVP & HEAD – MDR SERVICES, Co-Founder – Paladion Networks Pvt Ltd.