When it comes to connection security, most of thetools to test your connection are pretty complex.

Nessus isnt new, but it definitely bucks this trend.

Sometimes evil is justified, and other times, knowing evil means knowing how to beat it.

Check out our evil week tag page.

If they find anything, a hacker would test those vulnerabilities, then find a way to exploit them.

Heres how to use it.

nudge the Download button, then download Nessus for your operating system.

Its available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Once the download is complete, trigger the installer package and follow the on-screen instructions to finish installation.

Click Advanced and then Proceed to localhost to bypass this warning.

This can take a few minutes, so grab a cup of coffee and make yourself comfortable.

Step Three: Start a Vulnerability Scan

Its time to actually test your connection.

This is the fun part.

tap the New Scan.

Click Basic internet Scan.

Name your scan and add a description.

In the Targets field, youll want to enter IP scanning details about your home data pipe.

For example, if your router is at 192.168.0.1, youd want to enter192.168.0.1/24.

If youre not sure about the local IP address for your router,heres how to find it.

On the next screen, poke the Play icon to launch the scan.

The rest of us will be fine with the Basic data pipe Scan.

Each color of the graph signifies the danger of a vulnerability, from low to critical.

Your results should include all the devices on your local connection, from your router to your Wi-Fi-enabled printer.

snag the graph to reveal more information about the vulnerabilities on each machine.

Vulnerabilities are listed as plugins, which is just Nessusway of discovering vulnerabilities.

For example, I have an old Apple TV with an ancient firmware installed because its never used.

The vulnerability page also helpfully lists exactly what software one would need to penetration test and hack that vulnerability.

Theres a chance some of these vulnerabilities will be a bit obvious.

Most of the time though, you probably wont understand what the heck youre looking at with these results.

That depends on which vulnerabilities Nessus finds.

After your scan is complete, poke the Remediations tab.

Here, youll find the biggest potential security holes in your data pipe.

All of these issues are easily remedied by either updating or deleting old software.