
Invicti, formerly Netsparker, vs Nessus
Network security should be part of your cybersecurity strategy, but that is only one part of the game. You also need a web vulnerability scanner that can scan web applications and identify security flaws in them.

I’ve long been an advocate of Invicti, formerly Netsparker, because I believe it’s the easiest on-demand, do it yourself dynamic security analysis tool.
MICROSOFT REGIONAL DIRECTOR & MVP, FOUNDER OF HAVE I BEEN PWNED, LEADING SECURITY RESEARCHER
If you are considering security tools, the first thing you need to ask yourself is — what are you planning to test? According to the latest Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, flaws in web applications are the most common cause of data breaches. In order to protect against these attacks, you need a web vulnerability scanner, a purposely-built software that assesses the security of web applications. You need Invicti, formerly Netsparker.
Different Scanners Serve Different Purposes
You may be familiar with Tenable Nessus already. Network vulnerability scanners like Nessus, Qualys, and Rapid7 Nexpose serve an important purpose in a security testing program, however they do not provide a complete vulnerability picture because they mostly focus on network security. Network level testing is definitely required, but it does not provide a deep analysis of the web application security that you need.
What You May Be Missing
Network scanners can perform a few checks related to a web presence, such as identifying vulnerable versions of web servers or known open source platforms. But, a web application scanner is specifically equipped to map out all web pages and user inputs. Unlike a network scanner, it offers thorough vulnerability tests for security vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, remote file inclusion, and other critical issues, including those listed in the OWASP Top Ten list of most critical web security flaws.
Why Choose Invicti, formerly Netsparker
You know you need a web application vulnerability scanner. The market is crowded with commercial options such as Invicti, formerly Netsparker, Webinspect, IBM Appscan, Burp Suite, and as well as open source web security scanners such as Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP) and w3af. How do you choose?
You need a scanner that gives you accurate, actionable scan results for the web applications you have now, and in the future. Here is why Invicti, formerly Netsparker, is the right choice.
Platform Independence
Invicti,formerly Netsparker, is platform-independent. It does not matter whether your web server resides on a Microsoft Windows server, Linux, Unix, or another platform, or whether the underlying operating system is bare-metal or a virtual machine. From legacy web applications to modern HTML 5, it finds all possible attack surfaces and tests them thoroughly for real vulnerabilities that attackers are trying to exploit. Invicti,formerly Netsparker, also scans the web server for security flaws.
Configure and Scale
Our web security solution adapts and scales. Whether you have one application or thousands, defining the scope of a scan is simple in Invicti, formerly Netsparker. And, you can configure a scan to run against the broad spectrum of security vulnerabilities, or run a scan to perform vulnerability detection against just one or two bleeding-edge security flaws that may be dominating the threat landscape.
Unmatched Accuracy
Invicti’s, formerly Netsparker’s, Proof Based Scanning™ gets your security team from scan results to a more secure web presence faster.
Our scanner gives you dead accurate results: in a web vulnerability scanners comparison (DAST) by independent researcher Shay Chen, Invicti, formerly Netsparker, identified all the security vulnerabilities in the benchmark test cases, with no false positives. You can trust the results to give you a detailed picture of the attack surface, and your security analysts no longer have to spend hours manually verifying false positives instead of moving on to more valuable tasks.
Proof of Exploit
Invicti’s, formerly Netsparker’s, reporting provides not only vulnerability detection, but true proof of exploit. Security analysts can open the result in the console, see at a glance what text in the HTTP request exploited the vulnerability, and view exactly what was compromised as a result.
This gives the security team confidence in the scan results and makes it easier for them to justify security efforts to management. It also helps software development teams hone in quickly on the vulnerable source code and fits perfectly in a secure SDLC to take guesswork out of vulnerability remediations.

In my years as a security specialist I’ve used many different tools for DAST and Invicti, formerly Netsparker, has consistently been at the forefront of both experience and results. It’s simple to use without sacrificing capability.
SECURITY RESEARCHER AND ENTREPRENEUR, SCOTTHELME.CO.UK
You’ve invested a lot of resources into creating the best websites and web applications for your business and you want them to be secure. An antivirus or a firewall can’t protect your web assets. You need special software that works with the web.
- Leading-edge technology
You want the best solution for your web assets and Invicti, formerly Netsparker, is the best. Invicti’s Proof-Based ScanningTM technology can prove identified vulnerabilities are real and not false positives, saving security teams hundreds of man-hours. - Automation and integration
With Invicti, formerly Netsparker, you can automate and integrate with CI/CD and other systems found in the SDLC and DevOps environment. This allows your experts to focus on what’s most important and eliminate security issues at the earliest stages. - Reliability and trust
Invicti, formerly Netsparker, is a solution you can trust and constantly top rated in 3rd party benchmarks. Its engine is dead accurate and gives you all the information that you need to fix security issues.
Web Scanner Comparisons
In the 2018 independent web vulnerability scanners comparison, Invicti, formerly Netsparker, was the only scanner to identify all vulnerabilities and to report zero false positives.
Detect More Vulnerabilities
When tested in third party benchmarks by security industry experts, Invicti, formerly Netsparker, identified all direct impact vulnerabilities, surpassing all other solutions. Their results show Invicti, formerly Netsparker, has the most advanced and dead accurate crawling & vulnerability scanning technology, and the highest web vulnerability detection rate.
SQL Injection Detection (SQLI)
100%
Detection Rate
136/136
False Positives Tests
0/10
Reflected XSS Detecion (RXSS)
100%
Detection Rate
66/66
False Positives Tests
0/7
Local File Inclusion Detection (LFI)
100%
Detection Rate
816/816
False Positives Tests
0/8
Remote File Inclusion Detection (RFI)
100%
Detection Rate
108/108
False Positives Tests
0/6
Unvalidated Redirect Detection
100%
Detection Rate
30/30
False Positives Tests
0/9
Old, Backup Files Detection
72.83%
Detection Rate
134/184
False Positives Tests
0/3
Trusted by companies like
Bruno Urban
I had the opportunity to compare external expertise reports with Invicti (formerly Netsparker) ones. Invicti was better, finding more breaches. It’s a very good product for me.

Perry Mertens
As opposed to other web application scanners, Invicti (formerly Netsparker) is very easy to use. An out of the box installation can detect more vulnerabilities than any other scanner.
Dan Fryer
We chose Invicti (formerly Netsparker) because it is more tailored to web application security and has features that allow the university to augment its web application security needs.
