Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools – Free and Paid (Pros and Cons)
Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools – Free and Paid (Pros and Cons). Network auditing tools help identify vulnerabilities in their network infrastructure. Simply put these tools perform complex network security checks to discover potential misconfiguration errors and security weaknesses.
Importantly a network audit involves reviewing all network systems in the organization accessible from the internet. Besides, it also involves reviewing the protection mechanisms in place to safeguard your network devices. Thanks to those software tools, you can conduct automated audits to ensure you are secure from security threats.
Here are some of the best network auditing tools to simplify audits and improve networking security.
So let’s start with Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools – Free and Paid (Pros and Cons).
Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools – Free and Paid
1. Nagios
Importantly Nagios has two network monitoring tools. First is called Nagios XI and the other Nagios Core. With Nagios XI it is a premium tool with a user friendly interface. Also ideal for non technical users. Also it allows you to perform quick and efficient network monitoring and status checks. Basically Nagios XI, lets you to visualize data in customizable dashboards and understand your network environment fully.
Furthermore Nagios Core is one of the best open source monitoring tools you can use to monitor your servers and network. But Nagios Core has a learning curve and demands users to understand the Linux command line.
Pros of Nagios
- Available in free and premium versions
- Delivers comprehensive reports
- Enables fast detection of protocol failures and network outages
Cons of Nagios
- Steep learning curve.
Pricing is both Free and Paid.
2. Netwrix Auditor
Second on the list is Netwrix Network Auditor. A leading data security software with networking capabilities. Certainly with netwrix you gain visibility into networks in Hybrid IT environments. If you want to pull several audit trails from multiple network monitoring tools, use the Netwrix network auditor.
Also Netwrix Network Auditor integrates with popular platforms like VMware, Oracle Database, and Azure AD. Further also supports SharePoint, SQL server, and Windows servers.
Pros of Netwrix Network Auditor
- Reduces your attack surface area by eliminating permissive rules and inactive users.
- Saves time through a unified reporting dashboard. Moreover it eliminates the need for log files, several audit trails, spreadsheets and manual reporting.
- Gets a risk score of each network admin and user.
- Interestingly Netwrix identifies threats on both internal and external networks.
Cons of Netwrix Network Auditor
- An average Graphical User Interface( GUI).
- Takes a long time to diagnose serious technical issues.
Pricing: it has 20 Day Free Trial Available.
3. Greenbone OpenVAS
Next on the list of Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools – Free and Paid (Pros and Cons) is OpenVAS. Another choice for vulnerability scanner. Basically it allows you to perform largescale scans on your networks. What is more it’s free and open source and ideal for auditing Linux Environments. This tool has a large database with over 80,000 vulnerability tests.
Pros of Greenbone OpenVAS
- Powerful engine included.
- Free and open source.
- Large and dedicated community.
Cons of Greenbone OpenVAS
- Not easy to set up.
- Lacks an intuitive interface.
- Also a has a steep learning curve.
Pricing: Free
4. SolarWinds
On the other hand we have SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor. In this case a powerful network auditing tool to help you discover vulnerabilities in your network. You can use SolarWinds to monitor the uptime and downtime of your network. In truth it allows you to discover the root cause of network downtime so you can troubleshoot in real time.
Unquestionably SolarWinds has an intelligent network alerting to help you discover when network performance metrics pass critical thresholds. In that case the tool displays network performance metrics in customizable charts and dashboards.
Pros of SolarWinds
- Troubleshooting networking aspects of various cloud environments, including on premises, cloud and IT environments.
- Detailed monitoring of networking configuration faults.
- Real time reporting of metrics from API-enabled devices.
- Configures alerts based on network audits.
- Utilizes CPU, Memory, and interfaces for network performance monitoring.
Cons of SolarWinds
- Difficult to scale in large environments.
- Slow data interpretation of charts and historical information from SQL data.
Pricing: Paid with 30 day Free Trial.
5. Zabbix
Next is Zabbix. With this network monitoring tool you can monitor your network’s incidents and performance metrics. In the same way you monitor network health, configuration changes and network performance. Whether you want to monitor bandwidth usage, memory and CPU utilization, firmware upgrades, or systems statues, Zabbix comes in handy.
Since Zabbix is open source, you can extend its capabilities by adding new items and building custom templates.
Pros of Zabbix
- Integrates seamlessly with third party software.
- Automates monitoring tasks.
- Highly scalable and available.
- Enables encryption of all traffic between itself and other devices.
Cons of Zabbix
- A steep learning curve.
- Complex documentation.
Pricing: Free
6. Intruder Network Vulnerability Scanner
in particular with Intruder you test your system using a vulnerability scanner, simulating where actual attacks would come from. It’s simple to use and you can set it up easily without complex configurations.
Also the Intruder integrates seamlessly with tools such as Zapier, AWS, Azure, GCP, Jira, REST API and Microsoft Teams. This is to help you manage hassle free network vulnerability.
Pros of Intruder
- Prioritize security audit results by low, medium, high and critical levels.
- Easy to use interface.
- Updates on new weakness discoveries.
- Automatically scan the network for new service changes, open ports and new threats.
- Automate reporting of audit results to compliance standards like SOC2, ISO 27001, and many others.
Cons of Intruder
- Lack of detailed explanation in reports.
Pricing: Paid with a Free Trial.
7. ManageEngine
Subsequently there is ManageEngine’s Vulnerability Manager Plus. In essence it is a network audit tool that gives end to end visibility on IT networks. Similarly you can identify potential threats in the operating system, firewalls, network users and much more.
In addition ManageEngine lets users enforce their network configurations with strong access keys and create the least privileges. As a result it gives end to end visibility into your network’s performance and availability.
Pros of ManageEngine
- Uses prebuilt scripts, which is a proactive security approach compared to waiting for new security patches.
- Rich features in traffic flow and network bandwidth analysis.
- Monitors server uptime.
- Premium support for Azure Directory, SQL and MS Exchange.
Cons of ManageEngine
- Lacks a SaaS deployment option.
- User interface needs improvement.
Pricing: Paid with Free Trial available.
8. Atera
Next of Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools – Free and Paid is Atera. Overall a full service remote monitoring and management software. You can use Atera to get detailed security scans on networking devices. For this reason use Atera that performs IT Glue services to give up to date documentation and best practices on network monitoring.
Given that Atera is an easy to use network audit tool with quality support and a simple pricing model. For this purpose it has network device monitoring features, patch management, network risk analysis and malware management.
Pros of Atera
- Monitor multiple devices at once.
- Frequent product updates with the latest security features.
- Sends timely alerts and notifications on networking and security changes.
- Remote monitoring and customer support.
- Detailed reporting of audit insights.
Cons of Atera
- General reports lack the ability to customize reports.
- Needs more API capabilities to integrate with other vendors.
- Limited device information on the device platform.
Pricing: Paid with Free Trial Available.
9. Nmap
Network Mapper (NMAP) is a free open source tool for performing network discovery and security audits. Likewise Nmap enables you to discover network hosts and versions of networking services and scans both large and single networks.
Moreover Nmap supports various operating systems, including Windows, macOS and Linux. Since it’s open source software, Nmap has detailed guides and documentation on how to use the platform for various networking use cases.
Pros of Nmap
- Top rated software with a good track record in network auditing.
- Scans open TCP and UDP ports.
- Configures and customizes port ranges, IP addresses and networking protocols to scan.
Cons of Nmap
- With Windows not all functions are available.
- Syntax can be confusing.
Pricing: Free
10. Prometheus
Equally important to introduce is Prometheus. An open source network monitoring platform with advanced data collection and analytics capabilities. Even more it uses SNMP pings to examine network bandwidth usage. Also Prometheus is designed to provide extremely fast reporting and is most used in SaaS solutions.
Pros of Prometheus
- Fast reporting.
- Automatic event detection.
- Seamless integration with third party tools.
- Fact connectivity to data.
Cons of Prometheus
- Not easy to use.
- Also requires a lot of learning.
Pricing: Free
11. Nessus
By all means Nessus has its place on our list. Another vulnerability detection tool with advanced network auditing features. Mainly designed to simplify vulnerability assessment. Surely use Nessus to assess your network, prioritize the vulnerabilities and remediate issues. Additionally Nessus helps with finding missing patches, viruses and malware in your company’s network.
By the same token Nessus is portable. Due to that you can deploy Nessus in various environments. Besides, you can customize it to fit your company’s security processes. Also Nessus boasts unmatched accuracy and preconfigured security policies to provide comprehensive network scans.
Pros of Nessus
- Secure your IT cloud network, routers, workstations and large servers.
- Always stay updated with the latest networking trends.
- Automated scanning of vulnerabilities and best practices.
Cons of Nessus
- Slow in performing heavy workloads.
- The free trial version has limited features.
Pricing: Paid with Free Trial.
12. iTarian
Further on the list of Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools is iTarian Network Assessment Tool. Perform deep scans on networks to identify network, endpoint and server vulnerabilities. Additionally it then prepares detailed risk reports for the scanned network and actionable risk mitigation plans. What is more it’s easy to set up and allows users to import networks via IP range, workgroup or Active Directory.
Pros of iTarian
- Remote control and access to your networking infrastructure via PowerShell CLI.
- Ability to key in custom scripts and execute commands remotely.
- Manage up to 50 mobile devices within a network for free.
- Added ticketing and payment system for managed service providers.
- A rich resource section and support which make it easy to get started.
- Schedule patch management deployment according to your best time.
Cons of iTarian
- The scripting language is for advanced users.
- For better features, startups have to upgrade to a paid plan.
Pricing: Free.
13. Spiceworks Network Monitoring
Comparatively we have Spiceworks. A real time network monitoring tool that provides hassle free monitoring. Altogether it tracks network hardware devices such as routers and switching. What is more it is monitoring packet loss, packets per second and input/output rate.
Pros of Spiceworks
- Free licensing for most critical features.
- Creating Tickets from multiple sources.
- Quickly import device information by selecting what to include in the email report.
- You can customize reports.
Cons of Spiceworks
- Needs to improve the reporting interface.
- Manual email scheduling.
- The cloud version has some limitations.
Pricing: Free
14. Amazon Inspector
Another key tool of Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools is Amazon Inspector. Cloud native service that acts as an alternative network audit tool to the conventional AWS Audit Manager. With Amazon Inspector, you can scan through your AWS environment to analyse the configurations and security issues of your EC2 instances.
Pros of Amazon Inspector
- Compatible with other AWS resources.
- Wide support of documentation, tutorials, service providers and professional services.
- Audits configurations of AWS resources as intended.
Cons of Amazon Inspector
- Escalating costs when multiple accounts are associated with one AWS Config account.
- Short term free trial.
Pricing: 15 Day Free Trial.
15. Metasploit Penetration Testing
Last on the list of Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools – Free and Paid (Pros and Cons) is Metasploit. Another important penetration testing tool ideal for auditing your networks for vulnerabilities. Basically use Metasploit to monitor behaviour in your network and stay ahead of malicious attacks. This tool leverages a rich database of exploits to simulate real world attacks in your network. After all it eases the process of collecting and sharing information for successful penetration tests. After simulating real world attacks, it helps you discover attack vectors so you can move in to remediate and patch the network.
Pros of Metasploit
- Firstly Metasploit tests your network against common networking threats.
- Features good project management and collaboration tools. Moreover it segments a unique workspace for each project.
- Easily perform several exploits across many platforms.
Cons of Metasploit
- Interoperability issues between plugins.
- Windows has less performance compared with Linux features.
Pricing: Both Free and Paid Versions.
16. Try InfraSOS Auditing and Reporting SaaS Tool
Surprise spot at the end of this article blog is the new reporting solution. Basically InfraSOS is monitoring and reporting tool by developed by Active Directory experts. With AD reporting solution you get detailed reports on Active Directory, Office 365, Azure AD on all your Active Directory Objects and attributes. That is the only SaaS reporting platform for Active Directory Auditing.
Our unique only Saas platform InfraSOS is the leading active directory reporting and monitoring tool on the market.
It aids the Admin that can access information about the current status of user accounts, their security permissions, password expiry dates (or when they had changed their passwords), failed login attempts, and much more.
Pros of InfraSOS
- Saas solution.
- Have 200+ reports for Office 365 plus other comprehensive AD reports that can be exported in various formats.
- Active Directory Health Check reports that report on the status of the domain controller (DC) itself and any Domain Nameservers (DNS). Ability to set alerts on AD DC replication statuses.
- Find your users that are active or inactive, blocked, locked out or have their accounts disabled.
- That tool offers unique settings, so that you can create custom filters to search for AD attributes – including missing attributes – based on user attribute entries.
- Information that can be reported includes the last time they had logged on or changed their passwords.
Thank you for reading Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools – Free and Paid (Pros and Cons).
Top 15 Best Network Auditing Tools - Free and Paid Conclusion
To sum up network auditing is crucial in every organization that has a network infrastructure. Why? It allows you to identify vulnerabilities in your network and risk mitigation plans. Overall leveraging the above network auditing tools, you can perform network audits. That in return ensures you are running safe and secure systems. All you need is to choose a tool that integrates seamlessly into your organization’s security processes.
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