37 Powerful
Penetration Testing Tools For Every Penetration Tester
Posted In | Security testing, Software Testing Tools
Wouldn’t
it be fun if a company hired you to hack its website/ network/ Server? Well,
Yeah!!!
Penetration
testing, commonly called as pen-testing is a on a roll in the testing circle
these days. The reason is not hard to guess – with the change in the way
computer systems are used and built, security takes the center stage. Even
though companies realize they can’t make every system 100% secure, they are
extremely interested to know exactly what kind of security issues they are
dealing with. That’s where Pen-testing comes handy with its use of ethical
hacking techniques....
Let
us now quickly see:
What
is Penetration Testing?
It’s
the method of testing where the areas of weakness in software systems in terms
of security are put to test to determine, if ‘weak-point’ is indeed one, that
can be broken into or not.
Performed
for: Websites/Servers/Networks
How
is it performed?
Step #1. It
starts with a list of Vulnerabilities/potential problem areas that would cause
a security breach for the systems.
Step #2. If possible, this list of
items has to be ranked in the order of priority/criticality
Step #3. Devise penetration tests
that would work (attack your system) from both within the network and outside
(externally) to determine if you can access data/network/server/website
unauthorized.
Step
#4. If the unauthorized access is possible, the system has to be corrected
and the series of steps need to be re-run until the problem area is fixed.
Who performs Pen-testing?
Testers/
Network specialists/ Security Consultants
Note: it
is important to note that pen-testing is not the same as vulnerability testing.
The intention of vulnerability testing is just to identify potential problems,
whereas pen-testing is to attach those problems.
Good
news is, you do not have to start the process by yourself – you have a number
of tools already in the market. Why tools, you ask?
- Even though you design the test on what to attack and
how, you can leverage a lot of tools that are available in the market to
hit the problem areas and collect data quickly that enables effective
security analysis of the system.
Before
we look into the details of the tools, what they do, where can you get them,
etc. , I would like to point out that the tools you use for pen-testing can be
classified into two kinds – In simple words they are: scanners and attackers.
This is because; by definition pen-testing is exploiting the weak spots. So
there are some software/tools that will show you the weak spots, some that show
and attack. Literally speaking, the ‘show-ers’ are not pen-testing tools but
they are inevitable for its success.
Top
20 Penetration Testing Tools
1) Metasploit
This
is the most advanced and popular Framework that can be used to for pen-testing.
It is based on the concept of ‘exploit’ which is a code that can surpass the
security measures and enter a certain system. If entered, it runs a ‘payload’,
a code that performs operations on a target machine, thus creating the perfect
framework for penetration testing.
It
can be used on web applications, networks, servers etc. It has a command-line
and a GUI clickable interface, works on Linux, Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft
Windows. This is a commercial product, although there might be free limited
trials available.
2) Wireshark
This
is basically a network protocol analyzer –popular for providing the minutest
details about your network protocols, packet information, decryption etc. It
can be used on Windows, Linux, OS X, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and many other
systems. The information that is retrieved via this tool can be viewed through
a GUI, or the TTY-mode TShark utility. You can get your own free version
of the tool from here.
3) w3af
W3afis
a Web Application Attack and Audit Framework.
Some
of the features are: fast HTTP requests, integration of web and proxy servers
into the code, injecting payloads into various kinds of HTTP requests etc.
It has a command-line interface, works
on Linux, Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.
All
versions are free of charge to download.
4) CORE Impact
CORE
Impact Pro can be used to test mobile device penetration, network/network
devise penetration, password identification and cracking, etc. It has a
command-line and a GUI clickable interface, works Microsoft Windows. This is
one of the expensive tools in this line and all the information can be found at
below page.
5) Back Track
Back
Track works only on Linux Machines. The new version is called Kali Linux. This
is one of the best tools available for Packet sniffing and injecting. An
expertise in TCP/IP protocol and networking are key to succeed using this tool.
For information and to download a free copy,
6) Netsparker
Netsparker
comes with a robust web application scanner that will identify vulnerabilities,
suggest remedial action etc. This tool can also help exploit SQL injection and LFI (local file induction). It has a
command-line and GUI interface, works only on Microsoft Windows. This is a
commercial product, although there might be free limited trials available at
below page.
7) Nessus
Nessus
also is a scanner and one that needs to be watched out for. It is one of the
most robust vulnerability identifier tools available. It specializes in
compliance checks, Sensitive data searches, IPs scan, website scanning etc. and
aids in finding the ‘weak-spots’. It works on most of the environments.
8) Burpsuite
Burp
suite is also essentially a scanner (with a limited “intruder” tool for
attacks), although many security testing specialists swear that pen-testing
without this tool is unimaginable. The tool is not free, but very cost
effective. Take a look at it on below download page. It mainly works wonders
with intercepting proxy, crawling content and functionality, web application
scanning etc. You can use this on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux
environments.
9) Cain & Abel
If
cracking encrypted passwords or network keys is what you need, then Cain&
Abel is the tool for you. It uses network sniffing, Dictionary, Brute-Force and
Cryptanalysis attacks, cache uncovering and routing protocol analysis methods
to achieve this. Check out information about this free to use tool at below
page. This is exclusively for Microsoft operating systems.
10) Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP)
ZAP
is a completely free to use, scanner and security vulnerability finder for web
applications. ZAP includes Proxy intercepting aspects, variety of scanners,
spiders etc. It works on most platforms and the more information can be
obtained from below page.
11) Acunetix
Acunetix
is essentially a web vulnerability scanner targeted at web applications. It
provides SQL injection, cross site scripting testing, PCI compliance reports
etc. along with identifying a multitude of vulnerabilities. While this is among
the more ‘pricey’ tools, a limited time free trial version can be obtained at
below page.
12) John The Ripper
Another
password cracker in line is, John the Ripper. This tool works on most of the
environments, although it’s primarily for UNIX systems. It is considered one of
the fastest tools in this genre. Password hash code and strength-checking code
are also made available to be integrated to your own software/code which I
think is very unique. This tool comes in a pro and free form. Check out its
site to obtain the software on this page.
13) Retina
As
opposed to a certain application or a server, Retina targets the entire
environment at a particular company/firm. It comes as a package called Retina
Community. It is a commercial product and is more of a vulnerability management
tool more than a pen-testing tool. It works on having scheduled assessments and
presenting results. Check out more about this package at below page.
Download
link: Retina download
------------
14) Sqlmap
Sqlmap
is again a good open source pen testing tool. This tool is mainly used for
detecting and exploiting SQL injection issues in an application and hacking
over of database servers. It comes with command-line interface. Platform:
Linux, Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows are supported platforms. All
versions of this tool are free for download.
Download
link: Sqlmap download
15) Canvas
Immunity’s
CANVAS is a widely used tool that contains more than 400 exploits and multiple
payload options. It renders itself useful for web applications, wireless
systems, networks etc. It has a command-line and GUI interface, works on Linux,
Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It is not free of charge and can more
information can be found at below page.
Download
link: Canvas download
16) Social Engineer Toolkit
The
Social-Engineer Toolkit (SET) is a unique tool in terms that the attacks are
targeted at the human element than on the system element. It has features that
let you send emails, java applets, etc containing the attack code. It goes
without saying that this tool is to be used very carefully and only for
‘white-hat’ reasons. It has a command-line interface, works on Linux,
Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It is open source and can be found at
below page.
Download
link: SET download
17) Sqlninja
Sqlninja,
as the name indicates is all about taking over the DB server using SQL
injection in any environment. This product by itself claims to be not so stable
its popularity indicates how robust it is already with the DB related
vulnerability exploitation. It has a command-line interface, works on Linux,
Apple Mac OS X and not on Microsoft Windows. It is open source
and can be found at this page.
Download
link: Sqlninja download
18) Nmap
“Network
Mapper” though not necessarily a pen-testing tool, it is a must-have for the
ethical hackers. This is a very popular tool that predominantly aids in
understanding the characteristics of any target network. The characteristics
can include: host, services, OS, packet filters/firewalls etc. It works
on most of the environments and is open sourced.
Download
link: Nmap download
19) BeEF
BeEF
is short for The Browser Exploitation Framework. It is a penetration testing
tool that focuses on the web browser- what this means is that, it takes
advantage of the fact that an open web-browser is the window(or crack) into a
target system and designs its attacks to go on from this point on . It has a
GUI interface, works on Linux, Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It is open
source and can be found at this page.
Download
link: BeEF download
20) Dradis
Dradis
is an open source framework (a web application) that helps with maintaining the
information that can be shared among the participants of a pen-test. The
information collected helps understand what is done and what needs to be done.
It achieves this purpose by the means of plugins to read and collect data from
network scanning tools, like Nmap, w3af, Nessus, Burp Suite, Nikto and many
more. It has a GUI interface, works on Linux, Apple Mac OS X and
Microsoft Windows. It is open source and can be found at this page.
Download
link: Dradis download
**************
The
above is a huge list of many tools but that is not all. There are many
more Pen test tools that are gaining momentum in the recent
times. They are:
21) Ettercap: A
network and host analysis tool that provides sniffing and protocol dissection
among other things. More info here.
22) Hydra: A
password cracker – more details here.
23) Veracode: Works
with the code development process to ensure security and minimize
vulnerabilities at the source level. Check here.
24) SATAN: It
stands for: Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks. This tool is
used on network hosts for collecting and reporting security/vulnerability
related statistics. Download here.
25) SHODAN: It
is a search engine that lets you search for computers/devices on the internet
based on various parameters like city, country hostname, OS etc. Using the
Shodan Exploits you can search for known vulnerabilities and exploits. Download here.
26) Aircrack-ng: Captures
data packets and uses the same for recovery of 802.11 WEP and WPA-PSK
keys. Download here.
27) Arachni: A
Ruby framework that helps in analyzing web application security. It performs a
meta analysis on the HTTP responses it receives during an audit process and
presents various insights into how secure the application is. Download here.
28) PunkSPIDER(scanner
powered by PunkSCAN): Security
scanners and what is unique is that this tool performs a range of multiple
scans at once on web applications thus surpassing the existing tools in the
market. You can download the source code directly from Bitbucket at this page.
29) IBM
AppScan: As the name indicates
this is a scanner that identifies problem areas and suggests remedial
actions. Download here.
30) Nagios: This
is software when used will monitor the entire environment including servers,
applications, network – the entire infrastructure and alert when a potential
problem is detected.Download here.
31) Nikto:
A scanner that caters to web servers specially to detect outdated software
configurations, invalid data and/or CGIs etc.Download here.
32) WebScarabNG: This
tool use the http/https requests between the browser and the server to
understand, capture and sometimes modify the parameters that are part of the
communication between the two parties. Download here.
33) Maltego: This
is a unique tool that focuses on showing/highlighting the relationships between
people, sites, infrastructure etc. in order to identify inconsistent/incorrect
connections. Download here.
34) IronWASP: A
customizable scanner creator for web applications using python/ruby
scripting. Download here.
35) HconSTF: Using
this tool you can create your own web exploits, decoys that you can use to
exploit vulnerabilities in the areas of passwords, databases, network etc. Download here.
36) OpenVAS: Stands
for open vulnerabilities assessment system. Well, the name says it all. For
more info, check here.
37) Secunia
PSI: It is a personal software inspector that will keep your
system secure when installed. Try it here.
We
hope this piques your interest in the pen-testing field and provides you with
the necessary information to get started. A word of caution: remember to wear
your ‘White-hat’ because with great power comes great responsibility- and we
don’t want to be the ones to misuse it. 
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