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Tenable Network Security was the predecessor name of Tenable, Inc., the company behind Nessus and a broader exposure-management portfolio. netForensics was a separate security information and event management (SIEM) business and product; the company announced in 2012 that it had changed its name to BlackStratus. The available records do not establish that netForensics is still sold or identify BlackStratus’s current ownership.
What happened to Tenable Network Security?
Tenable Network Security, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in 2002. Tenable’s 2025 Form 10-K says the predecessor was renamed Tenable, Inc. in 2017. In other words, Tenable Network Security is the former corporate name of today’s Tenable, not a separate current company identified in that filing.
Nessus is the clearest link between the predecessor and the present-day business. Tenable’s 2025 filing describes the Nessus product line as a widely deployed vulnerability-assessment solution and says it underpins the company’s enterprise platform. Tenable’s current product documentation presents Tenable One as an exposure-management platform, with products including Nessus, Security Center, Tenable Agent, Container Security, Tenable Network Monitor, Patch Management and OT Security.
Historical company figures
Tenable’s 2019 corporate fact sheet reported the following figures. They describe the company at that time and should not be read as current customer or market-share statistics.
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| Figure | What Tenable reported | Date and source |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 | Tenable corporate fact sheet, 2019 |
| Customers | More than 27,000 | Tenable corporate fact sheet, 2019 |
| Fortune 500 | More than 50 percent | Tenable corporate fact sheet, 2019 |
| Global 2000 | More than 25 percent | Tenable corporate fact sheet, 2019 |
The 2019 figures are historical company claims; they do not establish Tenable’s present customer count or current penetration of those lists.
What was netForensics?
netForensics provided security information management (SIM) and later SIEM software. Its purpose was to gather security events from different devices, centralize and analyze them, and help security teams investigate activity, receive alerts, create reports and support compliance work. That is a different job from scanning systems to identify vulnerabilities.
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A SANS paper published on January 28, 2002 described netForensics as a security-information management solution that centralized data from multiple devices and offered configurable alerts and reporting. A Common Criteria security target dated March 8, 2005 identifies netForensics Version 3.1.1 with Point Update 45149 as a SIM product that integrated with third-party security devices and aggregated security-relevant events to help users understand network threats.
Company name and product history
- February 23, 2010: A company release said netForensics had its strongest quarter in its ten-year history and promoted cloud-based SIEM solutions for managed-service-provider partners. The quarterly-performance statement was the company’s own claim, not an independently audited market statistic.
- April 23, 2012: netForensics announced that it had changed its corporate name to BlackStratus, Inc. The announcement said the business would continue providing cloud-based SIEM and logging solutions to MSP partners and customers.
The 2012 announcement establishes a corporate name change. It does not, by itself, prove that every netForensics product became a BlackStratus product, that a particular product remains available, or who owns BlackStratus today.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteHow Tenable and netForensics differ
They address different security layers. Tenable’s vulnerability-assessment products examine assets for weaknesses and exposures; netForensics’ SIM/SIEM workflow collected and analyzed security events. A vulnerability scan helps answer “Where are we exposed?” Event monitoring helps answer “What security activity is happening or has happened?” The cited material describes their roles but does not provide a like-for-like performance test.
| Comparison | Tenable / Nessus | netForensics |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Discover and assess vulnerabilities and exposures across assets. | Centralize, correlate and report security events in a SIM/SIEM workflow. |
| Primary data | Asset and vulnerability-assessment information; the cited filing identifies Nessus as a vulnerability-assessment product. | Security-relevant events collected from security devices, including through third-party integrations described in the 2005 Common Criteria target. |
| Timing and operational question | Assessment of asset weaknesses; helps identify where remediation is needed. | Event monitoring and investigation; helps interpret activity and produce alerts and reports. |
| Deployment model | Not stated as a single model in the cited material; Tenable’s current documentation lists multiple products. | Cloud-based SIEM was promoted for MSP partners in the 2010 company release, and cloud-based SIEM and logging were cited in the 2012 name-change release. |
| Audience and integrations | The cited sources establish enterprise and asset-assessment use, but do not specify one exclusive audience or a complete integration list. | The cited sources describe use by organizations and MSP partners, plus aggregation from multiple and third-party security devices; they do not provide a complete integration list. |
| Remediation workflow | Assessment findings can inform vulnerability remediation; the cited sources do not specify a single remediation process. | Alerts, reports and compliance support are described; the cited sources do not establish a specific vulnerability-remediation workflow. |
These capabilities can complement one another in a security program, but one is not a direct replacement for the other: discovering a vulnerable asset and analyzing a stream of security events are distinct tasks.
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Is netForensics still available?
The available records establish netForensics’ historical product role and the company’s 2012 change of name to BlackStratus. They do not establish current netForensics product availability, current BlackStratus ownership, or a present-day support path. Treat netForensics as a historical product unless a vendor or current product listing confirms otherwise; do not assume the old product is available merely because the company announced a name change.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Tenable offers now
Tenable’s current documentation describes Tenable One as an exposure-management platform and lists a portfolio that includes Nessus, Security Center, Tenable Agent, Container Security, Tenable Network Monitor, Patch Management and OT Security. The documentation lists Tenable Network Monitor release 6.5.4 dated May 14, 2026. That is a release entry, not a claim that every listed product is included in Tenable One or available under identical terms in every region.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →For a reader who arrived looking for a vulnerability scanner, Nessus is the relevant Tenable product line. For event collection, correlation and monitoring, the historical netForensics description points to the SIEM category, not to Nessus. Current providers and availability in that category need to be checked directly; the records cited here do not verify a netForensics successor product.
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