Which scanner can scan networks from any machine on the network?

• A. Proxy Scanner
• B. OpenVAS
• C. Agent-Based Scanner
• D. Nessus Professional

Answer: (C)

Agent-based scanning relies on software agents installed on target machines to perform the checks locally and report back to a central manager. Because each endpoint hosts an agent, you can orchestrate and run scans from multiple management machines across the network, not just from a single scanner box. This distributed approach means the network can be scanned from various points, leveraging the agents on the endpoints themselves.

Proxy scanners depend on a scanning host reaching targets through a proxy path, which ties the scan to the proxy’s location and configuration rather than letting any machine on the network initiate scans independently. OpenVAS and Nessus Professional are powerful scanners, but their typical use is from a central scanner or management console; they don’t inherently enable scanning from any arbitrary machine on the network without deploying additional instances or agents.