Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks
Encyclopedia
The Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks (SATAN) is a testing and reporting toolbox that collects a variety of information about networked hosts and was considered one of the best when written. In fact, it was the first truly user-friendly network scanner. It features an HTML interface, complete with forms to enter targets, tables to display results and context-sensitive tutorials that appear when a hole has been found.
The tool was developed by Dan Farmer
and Wietse Venema
. Neil Gaiman
drew the artwork for the SATAN documentation.
SATAN was designed to help systems administrators automate the process of testing their systems for known vulnerabilities that can be exploited via the network. This is particularly useful for networked systems with multiple hosts. Like most security tools, it is useful for good or bad purposes – it is also useful to would-be intruders looking for systems with security holes.
SATAN is written mostly in Perl
and utilizes a web browser
such as Netscape, Mosaic or Lynx to provide the user interface. This easy to use interface drives the scanning process and presents the results in summary format. As well as reporting the presence of vulnerabilities, SATAN also gathers large amounts of general network information, such as which hosts are connected to subnets, what types of machines they are and which services they offer.
SATAN was released in 1995 and is not being further developed. In 2006, SecTools.Org conducted a security popularity poll and developed a list of 100 network security analysis tools in order of popularity based on the responses of 3,243 people. Results suggest that SATAN has been replaced by Nessus
and to a lesser degree SARA (Security Auditor′s Research Assistant; discontinued 9/1/2009), and SAINT
.
For those offended by the name, the package contains a program called repent, which changes everything named SATAN to SANTA.
SATAN has rapidly fallen from popularity after its meteoric rise in the 1990s.
The tool was developed by Dan Farmer
Dan Farmer
Dan Farmer is an American computer security researcher. In a summer course in 1989, in order to graduate from Purdue University he started the development of the COPS program for identifying security issues on Unix systems under Gene Spafford, first releasing it after leaving Purdue in late 1989...
and Wietse Venema
Wietse Venema
Dr. Wietse Zweitze Venema is a Dutch programmer and physicist best known for writing the Postfix email system. He also wrote TCP Wrapper and collaborated with Dan Farmer and Samuel Johnson to produce the computer security tools SATAN and The Coroner's Toolkit.-Biography:He studied physics at the...
. Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
drew the artwork for the SATAN documentation.
SATAN was designed to help systems administrators automate the process of testing their systems for known vulnerabilities that can be exploited via the network. This is particularly useful for networked systems with multiple hosts. Like most security tools, it is useful for good or bad purposes – it is also useful to would-be intruders looking for systems with security holes.
SATAN is written mostly in Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
and utilizes a web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
such as Netscape, Mosaic or Lynx to provide the user interface. This easy to use interface drives the scanning process and presents the results in summary format. As well as reporting the presence of vulnerabilities, SATAN also gathers large amounts of general network information, such as which hosts are connected to subnets, what types of machines they are and which services they offer.
SATAN was released in 1995 and is not being further developed. In 2006, SecTools.Org conducted a security popularity poll and developed a list of 100 network security analysis tools in order of popularity based on the responses of 3,243 people. Results suggest that SATAN has been replaced by Nessus
Nessus (software)
In computer security, Nessus is a proprietary comprehensive vulnerability scanning program. It is free of charge for personal use in a non-enterprise environment. Its goal is to detect potential vulnerabilities on the tested systems. For example:...
and to a lesser degree SARA (Security Auditor′s Research Assistant; discontinued 9/1/2009), and SAINT
SAINT (software)
SAINT is computer software used for scanning computer networks for security vulnerabilities, and exploiting found vulnerabilities.-SAINT Network Vulnerability Scanner:...
.
For those offended by the name, the package contains a program called repent, which changes everything named SATAN to SANTA.
SATAN has rapidly fallen from popularity after its meteoric rise in the 1990s.