An untenable situation - Software Engineer Tenable Employee Review

1.0
Aug 30, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Their marketing strategy seems strong, particularly the notion of "Cyber Exposure". They have a broad reach across many market sectors to sell in to.

Cons

All scanner products are based on a common codebase that's 25 years old. The code is the worst I've seen. All code is written in Tenable's proprietary NASL language, similar to but much less flexible than C, making development work an *extremely* dreary endeavour. The code is an unstructured conglomeration of features cobbled together over decades, no engineers I worked with understood how the features worked, limited docs. The technical leadership decided to kill most of the QA organization and so developers do all testing manually. It's the biggest circus I've seen we took the kids to Ringling Brothers. Upper management does not seem competent, especially technical leadership. The culture is silly, with peppy slogans from HR painted all over the walls, which the organization does not actually follow.

Explore other reviews about Tenable

5.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great environment and company culture.

Cons

Only do winter interns from my knowledge, so intern period is very short.

2.0
Apr 27, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

We can essentially use AI without any limit right now. The pay and compensation is industry leading but that's how they get you to stay.

Cons

The engineering organization is technologically stagnant — from CI pipelines, to sec/ops practices and overall architecture, everything is locked into legacy practices with little room for outside perspectives. Attempts to introduce modern tools or new ideas are consistently met with resistance rather than curiosity. There's also a stark tenure gap. Most engineers leave within a year or two once they recognize the limited ability to drive change, while those who stay long-term — often 8+ years — have rarely worked outside this environment and lack exposure to broader industry practices.

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