Retina NSS, Light & Fast - Why Use Anything Else?
Rating: 10 out of 10
April 15, 2019
JS
Vetted Review
Verified User
5 years of experience
We are utilizing Retina Network Security Scanner to perform internal penetration tests and vulnerability testing. We have a relatively small infrastructure, but because we must maintain NIST 800-171 compliance, we need to perform testing within their guidelines. Retina NSS (Network Security Scanner) is utilized by our senior network administrator on a monthly basis and we compare Retina NSS results to the results we receive via our SIEM. The main business problem the Retina NSS targets is the need for vulnerability scanning as well as basic internal penetration testing.
- Besides the fact that Retina NSS performs the fundamental task of scanning all my network devices, one of the main strengths is the speed at which it scans. Time is money and I know people tent to wear that cliché out a bit, but when you are as small as we are of a team, every minute counts.
- We have utilized other network security scanners over the past 21 years and Retina NSS seems to have the smallest footprint with no evidence of scanning degrading performance of the devices scanned.
- They seem to update their database frequently enough that we notice a correlation of threats to discovery.
- There is a small learning curve, but overall, a seasoned IT professional can quickly get up and running in a few hours and get usable results quickly. This falls back on the speed at which Retina NSS scans. My previous network security scanners would sometimes take hours to complete a full vulnerability scan of between 250 - 400 devices, now it only takes a fraction of that time.
Cons
- I do not have any obvious cons to report at this time.
- The product is extremely easy to deploy, extremely positive.
- If you take full advantage of this product as I did, you will maximize your ROI quickly as we did.
- We were able to visualize our vulnerabilities efficiently and effectively and maintain scheduled scans that allowed us to maintain a continuous improvement atmosphere while securing our investments.
- The ability provide reporting allows our IT department to prioritize issues and remediate as required without chasing down low risk issues over high risk issues that need immediate attention.
Retina Network Security Scanner is the only product we have used in our enterprise. I have used a product in the past called GFI LanGuard Network Security Scanner and while it did perform the functions of vulnerability testing, etc...it just wasn't nearly as refined as Retina NSS. It was slow and was not as lightweight as Retina as far as end-user detection.