Hacking specialists and penetration testers are the new norms of the modern era. With many companies now being based online the need for security specialists has risen sharply.
If you are willing to learn ethical hacking It is advised you get your hands on some of the best hacking books. Such ebooks will help gain knowledge within the cyber security industry and are a great pre-requisite before using pen testing tools.
Whether you are getting into pen testing or looking to defend your own network, we have some great tools; many of which are included in Kali Linux
Nmap is a powerful assessment tool when used to scan a network. The tool allows one to discover open ports and running services along with their associated version numbers, Nmap also has the addition of a fantastic scripting engine which when used properly can be a very powerful addition to a network pen test.
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Wireshark
Wireshark is a popular network analysis tool. It is designed to scan for packets passing through a network and is the favourite analysis tool for many socket exploit writers looking to ensure their code is working as expected or for pen testers looking to troubleshoot their tools.
BurpSuite
Burpsuite is the go-to tool for nearly every web application penetration tester, the community edition provides the proxy as well as a few other handy tools like the comparer, repeater and sequencer, all very time saving when pen testing. The paid version is a must have if already working in the industry.
WPScan
WPScan is tool designed specifically to find vulnerabilities within WordPress websites. It can locate WordPress versions, which plugins are running and whether there are associated vulnerabilities. It can also search for usernames, brute force the admin panel password and if successful upload a backdoor to enable shell access to the victim website.
Nessus
Nessus is a great vulnerability scanning tool. It comes with an easy to use graphical user interface and is capable of scanning multiple networks for open ports and vulnerabilities
Final note
Please ensure that you are aware of jurisdictional laws before using any of these tools and ensure you either own the product/network/website or have express permission from product/network/website owner, otherwise you may end up finding yourself on the wrong side of the law.