Compare Scan Results

You can compare two scan results to see differences between them. This comparison is not a true differential of the two results; it shows the new vulnerabilities that Tenable Nessus detected between the older baseline scan and the newer scan.

Comparing scan results helps you see how a given system or network has changed over time. This information is useful for compliance analysis by showing how vulnerabilities are being remediated, if systems are patched as Tenable Nessus finds new vulnerabilities, or how two scans may not be targeting the same hosts.

Note: You cannot compare imported scans or more than two scans.

To compare two scan results:

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Scans.

    The My Scans page appears.

  2. Click a scan.
  3. Click the History tab.
  4. In the row of both scan results you want to compare, select the check box.

  5. In the upper-right corner, click Diff.

    The Choose Primary Result window appears.

  6. In the drop-down box, select which of the scan results is the primary result.

    The primary result is your differential baseline. The scan differential shows the vulnerabilities that Tenable Nessus detected in the non-baseline scan.

    Tip: To see a true differential of the two scan results, Tenable recommends generating the differential twice: once using the older scan result as the baseline, and once using the newer scan result as the baseline. Doing so allows you to see the vulnerabilities that were only detected in one of the scan results.

  7. Click Continue.

    The scan differential appears. The differential shows the hosts on which the non-baseline scan detected vulnerabilities since the baseline scan under the Hosts tab and a list of the vulnerabilities detected under the Vulnerabilities tab. The differential also shows which of those new vulnerabilities are VPR Top Threats under the VPR Top Threats tab.

    You can generate a report of the scan differential. For more information, see step four of Create a Scan Report.