If you’re looking for a penetration testing platform that has everything you need, Kali Linux is your best option. With over 600 tools included, Kali has everything you need to assess your IT security posture and find vulnerabilities.
Please read on to learn which are the fifteen best tools that are included in Kali Linux. We’ll also discuss why Kali Linux is such a great choice for penetration testing.
What is Kali Linux?
Kali Linux is a free Linux OperatingSystem that was developed solely for cybersecurity purposes, including penetration testing.
You can get started right away with over 600 tools that have been pre-installed and configured.
Why use Kali Linux for penetration testing?
There are many reasons why Kali Linux is the best platform for penetration testing. The following are some of the most important:
- Kali has over 600 different tools available, making it the most comprehensive platform for penetration testing.
- The tools included in Kali are all free and open-source, making them easy to use and widely available.
- All of the tools in Kali are regularly updated, ensuring that you have access to the latest technology and features.
- Updating the OS automatically updates all tools.
Now that we know why Kali is such a great choice for penetration testing, let’s take a look at some of the best penetration testing tools that are included in it.
15 of the Best Tools for Penetration Testing (All free and included in Kali Linux):
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Metasploit Framework
It includes modules for attacking a wide range of targets, including web applications, networks, and systems. With this toolkit, you can generate exploitable codes/payloads and escalate privileges.
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Nmap
This is a powerful network exploration and security auditing tool. It can be used to scan hosts on a network for open ports, OS detection, IP addresses, etc.
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Burp Suite Scanner
Burp Suite is a comprehensive web application security scanner. It may be used to discover web application flaws. This is the free, open-source edition. It has many commercial editions with a plethora of features that are definitely worth the money.
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Wireshark
If you want to monitor, capture and examine your network’s traffic and data packets, Wireshark is the tool.
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John The Ripper
This is a famous tool to guess, brute-force, crack or reveal passwords with the hash. It works well against Windows, Linux, and Mac systems. You can opt for the paid version should you need more features.
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Hashcat
Hashcat is a powerful tool for breaking password hashes. It can use GPUs or CPUs to break passwords faster.
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Nikto
This is a web server scanner. Use it to find malicious files, programs, or even check if your servers have the latest software update installed.
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Aircrack-ng
Aircrack-ng itself has a few tools/scripts within it aimed at testing WiFi security. It can be used to crack WEP and WPA encryptions, monitor your WiFi, and get its password.
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Netcat
This is a flexible network utility that may be utilized for a wide range of activities, including network scanning, port scanning, and data transmission.
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Social Engineering Toolkit
The Social Engineering Toolkit (SET) is a collection of tools that can be used to perform social engineering attacks like phishing.
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sqlmap
A powerful SQL injection automated penetration testing tool. It automates the process to exploit vulnerabilities in SQL databases.
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Autopsy
Autopsy is a digital forensics toolkit. In the field of digital forensics, it is one of the most useful free tools. Install it on any platform or use it from Kali Linux to uncover a hacker’s tracks or retrieve data lost/stolen data. This tool is popular among law officials as well.
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Hydra
Hydra is a password cracking tool that can attack multiple login protocols simultaneously.
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Kiwi (formerly Mimikatz)
Kiwi is a tool for extracting passwords and other sensitive data from memory dumps. This is a dangerous tool as it can also be used to escalate privileges and gain admin rights over a system.
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BeEF
BeEF is a browser exploitation framework that allows you to test the security of web browsers. You can use this for fixing client-side issues in web browsers.
Conclusion:
Kali Linux is the perfect platform for finding vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure and protecting against attacks.
It comes with an abundance of tools for penetration testing. With so many alternatives, it may be tough to choose some.
However, the 15 tools listed here are the ones experts rely on. These tools will help you find security vulnerabilities in your systems and networks, assess risk, and perform attacks.
If you’re searching for an all-in-one pentesting package, Kali Linux is your best bet. So get started with Kali Linux today and see what you can uncover.
