I was given the honor of reviewing GFI LANguard network and security scanner. Right off the bat I notice that the interface is very intuitive & easy to use, which is important to a busy security professional that have better things to do with their time than fight with a messy
security tool.

The network scanning tool I normally use is called Retina.
When lining the two up, I have to say Retina is much more powerful, with many more options built in. It can drill way down and do intrusive scans where GFI LANguard v.9 is pretty vanilla. It gives you what you need and that is it.

The simplicity could be an advantage to a system admin doing a security job, because it really is straight to the point. The cost is definitely and advantage. GFI LANguard is about ½ the cost of the Retina Scan tool.

Retina Professional Edition 16 IP Pack – $995.00

GFI LAN Guard goes for about 300+ for 10 licences.

Nessus is considered one of the best network scan tools but its more expensive then both.

What I really like about Retina is that it allows you to scan in accordance with Department of Defense standards, SAN, and others. Languard does look at the SANS Top 20 report vulnerabilities.

If your looking for basic, down to Earth network & security scanner for your small to medium business needs, than GFI Languard is definitely the way to go because you will not beat the cost for the quality and support you get. Its going to give you a thorough assessment of the your systems and even tell you how to fix them. Buy this product!