Best Penetration Testing Tools

Popular Penetration Testing Tools

Here are some pen testing tools that are very apt at detecting vulnerabilities and accurately simulating cyberattacks. Let’s have a look at their features and advantages, and platforms they are compatible with.

1. Burp Suite Pro

Usage: Best for professionals and expert penetration testers who want to leverage a powerful automated and advanced manual testing tool to uncover critical application-level flaws.
Parent company: PortSwigger
Platforms: The supported platforms include macOS, Linux, and Windows.

2. SQLmap

Usage: It is best detecting and exploiting SQL Injection flaws and taking over database servers.
Parent company: Open-source tool available in GNU (General Public License)
Platforms: MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, SQLite, Firebird, SAP MaxDB.

3. Aircrack-ng

Usage: It is a great suite of tools for penetration testers for hacking WI-FI networks. It is a command line tool and allows customisation.
Parent company: Open-source tool available in GNU (General Public License)
Platforms: Supported platforms include Linux, OS X Solaris, and Windows.

4. Wireshark

Usage: Best suited for Administrators for network troubleshooting and pentesters for analysing sensitive network data.
Parent company: Open-source tool available in GNU (General Public License)
Platforms: MacOS, Linux, Solaris, and Windows are a few supported platforms.

5. Nmap

Usage - Considered as the best tool by pen testers to identify network-level vulnerabilities.
Parent company - Open-source tool available in GNU (General Public License)
Platforms -The platforms that support the tool include Linux, Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, HP-UX, NetBSD, Sun OS, and Amiga.

6. Metasploit

Usage: Metasploit is best used where multiple applications or systems are to be tested.
Parent company: Rapid7
Platforms: Metasploit is pre-installed in Kali Linux OS. It is also supported on Windows and MacOS.

7. Hashcat

Usage: It is best suited for system recovery specialists and pentesting to crack encrypted passwords.
Parent company: Open-source tool available in MIT License
Platforms: Linux, OS X, and Windows are some of the supported networks.

8. WPScan

Usage: The quickest way to run WPScan is to install its plugin on your wordpress website or by using docker image.
Parent company: Open-source tool, available on GitHub repository.
Platforms: WPScan is supported on ArchLinux, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian.

9. Nessus

Usage: Nessus can be used for variety of purposes to scan operating devices, network devices, hypervisors, databases, tablets, web servers, phones, and other critical infrastructure.
Parent company: Tenable
Platforms: Nessus can be run on Debian, MacOS, Ubuntu, FreeBSD, Windows, Oracle, and Linux.

10. MobSF

Usage: The best in the class automated framework for scanning mobile applications.
Parent company: Open-source tool, downloadable
Platforms: The platforms supported include Android, iOS, and Windows.

These are some common penetration testing tools that make the work easier for pen testers. They help them identify vulnerabilities and protect the infrastructure from possible threats.

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