Core Impact
Core Impact is a comprehensive penetration testing software that allows you to safely test your IT infrastructure by replicating real-world multi-staged attacks to identify and prioritize security vulnerabilities.
Tenable Nessus
Nessus is a vulnerability assessment solution providing deep-point-in-time scans to identify security flaws, misconfigurations, and malware across your modern IT infrastructure, including cloud, containers, and traditional assets.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Core Impact | Tenable Nessus |
|---|---|---|
| Website | coresecurity.com | tenable.com |
| Pricing Model | Custom | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Custom Pricing | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✘ No free trial | ✓ 7 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✘ No free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 1996 | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, USA | Columbia, USA |
Overview
Core Impact
Core Impact helps you reveal the most pressing security threats across your entire organization. You can automate routine exploitation tasks for your network, endpoints, and even web applications, allowing your security team to focus on more complex manual testing. The platform provides a library of commercially developed and tested exploits, so you can validate vulnerabilities with confidence and without crashing your systems.
You can use the software to run multi-vector attack simulations that pivot from a compromised web application to the internal network. This helps you understand exactly how an attacker could move through your environment. It also generates detailed reports that map your findings to regulatory requirements, making it easier to prove compliance and prioritize remediation efforts based on real-world risk.
Tenable Nessus
Nessus helps you identify and fix security vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them. You can scan your entire environment—including cloud instances, web applications, and traditional network hardware—to find missing patches, software flaws, and configuration errors. It provides a clear view of your attack surface so you can prioritize the most critical risks to your business.
You can choose between different versions depending on your needs, ranging from a free version for educators and students to professional and expert versions for security consultants. It simplifies the complex task of vulnerability assessment with pre-built templates and automated reporting. Whether you are securing a small office or a complex hybrid-cloud environment, you can rely on its extensive plugin library to stay protected against the latest threats.
Overview
Core Impact Features
- Rapid Penetration Tests Automate common testing tasks to quickly identify and exploit vulnerabilities across your network, web, and client-side assets.
- Certified Exploit Library Access a massive library of professionally written and tested exploits to safely validate risks without disrupting your business operations.
- Multi-Vector Pivoting Simulate how attackers move through your environment by pivoting from one compromised machine to another across different network segments.
- Vulnerability Scanner Import Import results from scanners like Nessus or OpenVAS to validate which vulnerabilities are actually exploitable in your specific environment.
- Teaming Capabilities Collaborate with your security team in real-time by sharing workspaces and attack data during complex, large-scale engagements.
- Automated Reporting Generate comprehensive reports that translate technical findings into actionable business intelligence for stakeholders and compliance auditors.
Tenable Nessus Features
- Pre-Built Scan Templates. Start scanning immediately using over 450 pre-configured templates for common audits like PCI-DSS and HIPAA compliance.
- Live Results. Perform offline vulnerability analysis against your scan history to find new threats without running a new scan.
- Cloud Infrastructure Scanning. Assess your cloud-native assets and identify misconfigurations in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud environments easily.
- Customizable Reporting. Create tailored reports in multiple formats like HTML or PDF to share critical security findings with your stakeholders.
- Web Application Scanning. Identify vulnerabilities in your web applications and APIs to prevent common attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting.
- External Surface Discovery. Find and map your internet-facing assets to understand what an attacker sees when looking at your organization.
Pricing Comparison
Core Impact Pricing
Tenable Nessus Pricing
- Scan up to 16 IP addresses
- High-speed accurate scanning
- Community support access
- Standard vulnerability assessment
- Free for educators and students
- Everything in Essentials, plus:
- Unlimited IP address scanning
- Advanced support access
- Configuration audits
- Live Results analysis
- Customizable reporting
Pros & Cons
Core Impact
Pros
- Automated wizards save significant time on routine testing
- High-quality exploits are safer than open-source alternatives
- Excellent pivoting capabilities simulate realistic lateral movement
- Detailed reporting simplifies complex compliance documentation
Cons
- Higher price point compared to open-source tools
- Significant learning curve for the advanced feature set
- Interface feels dated compared to modern SaaS tools
Tenable Nessus
Pros
- Extremely high accuracy with very low false-positive rates
- Massive library of plugins updated daily for new threats
- Easy to set up and run your first scan quickly
- Detailed remediation instructions help you fix issues faster
Cons
- Annual subscription cost is high for small businesses
- Interface can feel dated compared to newer cloud platforms
- Reporting customization requires a learning curve to master