Changes to the Nessus Vulnerability Scanner subscription model

Tenable’s CEO Ron Gula and Nessus creator Renaud Deraison posted a letter to the Nessus community announcing some changes in the subscription model.

Since creating and releasing the subscriptions, two distinct user groups emerged. They are the home user and the commercial user. To better reflect the needs our community, we have decided to update our Subscription licensing policy and are announcing the planned change (as outlined below and accompanied by a FAQ) that will go into effect on July 31st, 2008.

First, we will continue to enable all users to download Nessus for free.

Second, due to computers and personal networks having become ubiquitous in homes around the world, Tenable will launch a “HomeFeed” with all Nessus vulnerability plugin updates for home users at no charge and with no delay. We are excited to offer the latest vulnerability checks for personal, non-commercial use and strongly encourage home users to audit their computers and networks for the newest security flaws.

Finally, Tenable’s “Direct Feed” will be re-named to the “ProfessionalFeed” and the “Registered Feed” will be discontinued. The ProfessionalFeed will entitle subscribers to the latest vulnerability and patch audits, configuration and content audits and commercial support for their Nessus 3 installation. The ProfessionalFeed will serve as Tenable’s commercial subscription and will be required for individuals and organizations that want to use Tenable’s Nessus plugins commercially.

The decision to alter the licensing policy is the result of significant deliberation and will benefit both home users and commercial users. The change will ensure our ability to invest in the future roadmap for Nessus and to expand our research, support and training capabilities to serve our growing community. We realize this may affect some individuals, corporations and organizations that use the currently available “Registered Feed” in production audits and commercial services. Because of this, Tenable is offering a 25 percent rebate for the Direct Feed subscription service (normally available at $1200 per year), beginning May 14, 2008 until July 31, 2008 only when purchased through Tenable’s e-commerce site.

Additionally, we understand that there are those in the Nessus community that serve broad social and educational objectives and we want to make certain that qualified charitable and information security teaching/training organizations have access to the ProfessionalFeed free of charge. To this end, Tenable will provide ProfessionalFeed subscriptions to charity and teaching/training organizations at no cost for those

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