Looking for solutions against hackers? You’re at the right place.
Ethical Hacking tools are softwares, scripts and applications used by ethical hackers to detect openings in a corporation’s networks, applications, cloud and other systems.
Please spare your precious time to enjoy a safer digital life.
Ethical Hacker’s Duties
Ethical Hackers are cybersecurity professionals who hack into a company’s computer systems to find out the vulnerabilities in them before the hackers who are out to steal confidential data.
An ethical hacker performs diverse functions. Her/his functions are not just to run demo hacking attacks but also to find out the cracks in a company’s IT network. This community:
- Analyses employee keystrokes
- Runs vulnerability assessments
- Checks for low-strength passwords
- Automate as much as possible
- Keep eye on latest regulatory updates
We’ve categorized 40 Ethical Hacking tools into 4 categories.
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Here are the instruments you can expect to read about:
A. ETHICAL HACKING TOOLS
If you’re creating a new software but want to test its application’s security before putting it out there, Kiuwan is your go-to place. It claims to possess 20,000+ clients. Its portfolio includes 3 main products:
- SCA - Analytics
- QA - Code analysis
- SAST - Code security
Pros:
- Supports 30+ programming languages
- Allows you to test the software’s faults while updating it
Cons:
- No PDF files with insights
- Mobile app’s unavailability
Availability:
Play Store: Yes
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Acunetix guards against 7,000 Cons, including zero-days, is trusted by 2,300 companies. It claims a 99% satisfaction rate. Acunetix is available across Windows, Mac, RedHat. Price is negotiable.
Pros:
- Updating apps
- End-to-end security
- Sharing information about attacks
- Conducting vulnerability assessments & repairs
- Conducting scans, even for password-protected areas
Cons:
Availability:
Play Store: Yes
App Store: No
Web: Yes
As the name suggests, SaferVPN is for Virtual Private Networks [VPN]. This Israeli-based product is available in 10 verbal languages. It supports platforms like Android, Amazon, Kodi, Linux, Microsoft, pfSense, Synology and Ubuntu. SaferVPN’s 760+ servers are present in 35 countries.
Pros:
- Kill-switch facility
- Not storing any data
- Encryption support for PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, IKEv2, OpenVPN
Cons:
- Speed
- Having a suspicious DNS
- Not letting unblock certain apps
Availability:
Play Store: Yes
App Store: No
Web: Yes
This tool for its fans is a Virtual Security Consultant [VSC]. GFI LanGuard is a network security scanner and network monitor.
Pros:
- Detect threats earlier than they affect your business
- Exploit its 60,000+ threats library for centralized vulnerability assessment
- Use its Automated security reports to follow requirements like PCI DSS, HIPAA and SOX
Cons:
- Uninstalling the software
- Less duration of its trial version
- Doesn’t integrates with GFI software"s
Availability:
Play Store: No;
App Store: No;
Web: Yes
Also Read: How to get CEH Certification? Career Path, Jobs, Salary and more
Essentially a port scanner software for Transmission Control Protocol [TCP] & User Data Protocol [UDP], it has been developed by Foundstone. This is an industry-renowned tool which assigns helper application for every port. Give it a built-in list, and it can scan any port range.
Pros:
- Quick scanning
- Simple interface
Cons:
- Not having help files
- Difficult to understand for beginners
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
This is an automated Dynamic Application Security Testing DAST tool from the house of CyberRes. Useful for helping QA testers with security vulnerabilities and configuration issues.
Pros:
- PostGresSQL
- Horizontal Scaling
- Hacker-Level Insights
- HAR Files for Workflow Macros
- Functional Application Security Testing (FAST)
Cons:
- Not supported on Linux
- No customer support and mobile app
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Wireshark is a data packet analyzer. It is available on Linux, Windows, Mac OS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD.
Its current product list includes:
- OUI Lookup Tool
- WPA PSK Generator
- Editor Modeline Generator
- IPv4 and IPv6 Connectivity Test
- String-Matching Capture Filter Generator
Pros:
- If you are starting in cybersecurity, this software is for you.
- Wireshark allows users to browse captured network data using GUI or TTY-mode TShark utilities.
Cons:
- Dirty interface
- Not being able to increase its payload
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
This is a web application scanner for finding Cons like SQL Injection, XSS. It uses proof-based scanning technology. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, it counts Federal Aviation Administration, ING, ISCA, Tata Group as some of its clients.
Pros:
Invicti builds automation into SDLC by:
- Detect
- Resolve
- Integrate
- Discover & Crawl
- Continuously Share
Cons:
- Some users find it difficult to use it in the absence of a manual
- Incomplete scans must be cancelled, otherwise reports aren’t generated
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Short for Open Vulnerability Access Scanner, it is used for authenticated and unauthenticated testing and performance tuning. It holds ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO/IEC/27001 for Information Security certifications, respectively.
OpenVAS comprises of 3 parts:
- Scanner apps for vulnerability testing
- Greenbone Vulnerability Manager Daemon (gvmd)
- Greenbone Security Assistant (GSA) used with Greenbone Security Assistant Daemon (gsad)
Pros:
- Open source
- Plug-in support
Cons:
- User-interface is outdated
- Coverage of 26,000 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures is less than desirable.
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
If your car has Wi-Fi, it is vulnerable to a hacking attack. This is what wardriving is. To prevent it Netstumbler needs to be installed. Functional only for Windows, it detects wireless LANs using 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g standards.
Pros:
- Being a free tool with an easy to install setup
- Having a lighter version called MiniStumbler
Cons:
- Not conforming to 802.11n or 802.11ac standards
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
A Java application for Windows, Linux & Mac, Maltego is an open-source graphical link analysis & intelligence tool. If you are a CEH and aspire to be a Certified Hacking Forensics Investigator, getting familiar with Maltego is a wise decision.
It has 3 types of pricing plans:
- Maltego Pro
- Maltego Enterprise
- Maltego Community
Pros:
- Choice to connect 1MN entities on a graph
- 58 data sources in the Maltego Transform Hub
Cons:
- Complex UI
- Slow speed while using multiple graphs
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Nessus is the world’s best product for vulnerability assessment. It is one of the products from the house of Tenable.
Some Pros about Nessus:
- Directory of 175,000+ plugins
- Releases 100+ new plugins daily
- 71,000+ Common Vulnerability and Exposures
- Can detect weak passwords, system vulnerabilities, and misconfigurations
Cons:
- Insufficient tools for comparative assessments and see SSL vulnerabilities
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
LiveAction is a company focussed on network security and challenges. One of the companies which offers a diverse set of solutions for Ethical Hackers, Penetration Testers in network performance monitoring.
Its products are named:
- LiveWire- Network Visibility
- LiveSP- Network Monitoring
- LiveNA- Network fault detection
- Omnipeek- Network Protocol Analysis
- LiveCapture- Packet Capture & Analysis
- LiveNX- Enterprise Monitoring Software
- ThreatEye NV- Enterprise Threat Detection and Encrypted Traffic Analysis
Pros:
- Integration
- Monitoring
- Multi-segment analysis
Cons:
- Cost of its solutions
- UI of new products complex
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Not to be confused with an astrology app and Hindi language word for luck, Kismet is a Wireless Intrusion Detection [WIDS] framework. It is also a wireless network detector, device detector, sniffer, wardriving tool. Kismet is supported on Windows, Linux and Apple’s OS X.
Pros:
- Can detect non-beaconing and hidden networks
- Compatible with SDR [Software Defined Radio], RTLSDR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- Can find traffic from 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n standards for wireless Local Area Network [LAN]
Cons:
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Also Read: 5 Reasons to go for CEH Certification Training
From the house of Qualys, it was called QualysGuard. This is an Ethical Hacking tool for analyzing your corporation’s cloud infrastructure.
It has 3 products:
- Cloud Inventory
- Container Security
- Cloud Security Assessment
Pros:
- Quick setup
- Wide range of apps
- Informative Reports
Cons:
- App outages
- Complex navigation
- Poor technical support
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Currently its 1.7 version is available. Aircrack-ng is essentially a solution for improving Wi-Fi security. Its 4 focus areas are:
- Testing
- Cracking
- Attacking
- Monitoring
Pros:
- Low to medium passwords can be made safer
- Available on Windows as well as Unix, Linux, and macOS
- Used for Hardware security, Network scanning, or Security assessment
Cons:
- Difficult usage
- Absence of GUI
- Coverage of outdated WEP encryption
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
B. OPEN-SOURCE-TOOLS
This is a free, mobile-friendly tool for network security and security auditing. Its full form is Network Mapper. Also utilized as a port scanner, it is one of the widely used tools in the market.
Pros:
- Available for Windows, macOS, Linux (RPM)
- Trusted by penetration testers, ethical hackers and cyber security analysts
- Useful for recognizing open/closed ports, OS detection, Service version detection, fingerprinting
Cons:
- Slow modules
- Can be easily blocked by firewall, WAF, IPS
- Scripts written in non-mainstream language Lua
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Renowned as the world’s widely used penetration testing framework, Metasploit is one of the best friends of pen testers. Its parent company is Rapid7. It is accessible for free tool by the name of Metasploit framework and commercial as Metasploit Pro. Pro’s free trial can also be used.
Its other products are:
- InsightIDR- Incident detection and response
- InsightVM- Vulnerability management, analysis & reporting
- InsightAppSec- Cloud-powered application security testing
Pros:
- Provides cross- Cross-platform support
- Available in web UI or command prompt
- Remote machine scripts & hacks can be tested and analyzed
- Used in development of IDS signature, security tools and utilities
Cons:
- No GUI
- Lack of automation
- Difference in results between commercial and free versions
- Database not updated as soon as new vulnerabilities are known
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
This is a tool for auditing websites & web applications. Wapiti’s latest version is 3.1.3. Its specialty is conducting black-box scans while not going into the source code. Wapiti has 22 modules. Users can donate any amount of their choice after using it.
Pros:
- Available for free
- Downloadable using PIP
- Valid for GET and POST HTTP methods
- Vulnerability reports in formats like HTML, XML, JSON, TXT, CSV
Cons:
- SSL support not there
- Takes time to understand for new users
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
A penetration testing framework, it is a product of Immunity Inc. It too is free. Canvas’ has a single installation license which:
- Supplies full source code
- Unlimited target IP address access
- Enables one year of standard monthly updates and support
Pros:
- 800 exploits
- MOSDEF development environment
- Can be used on Windows, Linux & Python
Cons:
- Slow booting time
- Confusing & difficult navigation
- Data loss in case of internet interruption
- Some Pros required for compliance absent
Availability:
Play Store: Yes
App Store: Yes
Web: Yes
It is an open-source IKE/IPSec authentication crack tool. IKECrack uses Pre-Shared-Key [PSK] IKE authentication to brute force or dictionary attack the key/password needed for it.
Pros:
- Focused on cryptography
- Can be used by individuals & businesses
- Conducts 18,000 tests per second with PIII 700
- Uses parts of MDCrack, Ron Rivest"s MD5, Reverse MD5, MD5 and HMAC-MD5, PerlMods, libpcap
Cons:
- UI
- Speed
- Website not designed well
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Short for Zed Attack Proxy, ZAP is the web app scanner most people use in the world. It is offered from Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP).
Pros:
- Available on all Windows, Linux, and Mac OS/X
- Can be used by developers, security testing specialists
- Intercepts & inspects messages between browsers and web applications
Cons:
- Limited scanning tools
- Tool is resource-intensive
- Cluttered reporting format
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
This is an open-source penetration testing tool for finding out a Structured Query Language [SQL] ‘s injection flaws. It has been designed with the objective of controlling & managing database servers.
Pros:
- Password hash formats can be identified and cracked using dictionary-based attacks
- Specific database names, tables, columns across all database tables can be searched
- Any file can be downloaded & uploaded From the underlying database software"s of MySQL, PostgreSQL or Microsoft SQL Servers
- Supports Boolean-based blind, time-based blind, error-based, UNION query-based, stacked queries and out-of-band SQL injection techniques
Cons:
- GUI
- Hard to use
- Complex attacks go undetected
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Sboxr is an open-source tool for web applications’ vulnerability testing. It’s a favourite with ethical hackers because it lets them create custom security scanners.
Pros:
- Can work with Python & Ruby
- Plug-ins/modules like C# or VB.NET are supported
- Reports can be generated in RTF and HTML formats
- Can detect issues under Sensitive Data Leakage, Code Execution, Cross-site Communications, Cryptography, Data Storage & JS Code
Cons:
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Also Read: Scope of Ethical Hacking
C. PASSWORD TOOLS
Also known as LOphtCrack, LC4 is an open-source software for password auditing and recovery. Version 7.2.0 is currently in use.
Pros:
- Multicore and Multi-GPU support available
- Multiple operating systems are useable by in it
- Uses password hashes to reverse engineer the correct passwords
- Finds and evaluates password vulnerabilities over local networks and machines
Cons:
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Cain & Abel It is a password recovery tool only for Microsoft.
Pros:
- Has facilities like APR (Arp Poison Routing), sniffers
- Recovers passwords & credentials from different sources
- Used by network administrators, teachers, security consultants, forensic people, penetration testers
- Ships routing protocols authentication monitors and routes extractors, dictionary and brute-force crackers
Cons:
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
This is a free tool for password cracking. John is also used for password security auditing and password recovery. Its commercial version is named John the Ripper Pro.
Pros:
- Different encrypted passwords can be tested
- Supports hundreds of hashes and cipher types
- Can be used by Linux, macOS, Windows, & android users
- User passwords of Unix flavors, groupware, database servers, network traffic captures, encrypted private keys, filesystems & disks, archives, and document files can be evaluated from it
Cons:
- Unpleasant GUI
- Long set-up time
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
It claims to be the world’s fastest password cracker. Hashcat is the only in-kernel rule engine.
Pros:
- Performance can be auto tuned
- 350+ hash-types can be implemented
- Comes with in-built benchmarking system
- Can be used by Linux, Windows and macOS users
Cons:
- Efficiency
- Absence of adequate support for GPU drivers
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Known for cracking hashes with rainbow tables, Rainbow Crack uses time-memory trade off algorithm for this purpose.
Pros:
- Supports Windows & Linux
- Customizable hash algorithms & charset
- Provides GPU acceleration with AMD GPUs, NVIDIA GPUs
Cons:
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
From the house of Kali, Medusa is an online brute-force, speedy, parallel password cracker.
Pros:
- Modular design
- Flexible user input
- Thread-based parallel testing
Cons:
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
D. MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS
Offered by PortSwigger, BurpSuite is a set of tools for penetration testing. Free & paid versions are available. It has 3 main products:
- Burp Suite Professional
- Burp Suite Enterprise Edition
- Burp Suite Community Edition
Pros:
- Has a rich API
- Capable of detecting over 3000 vulnerabilities
- Tools like Repeater, Decoder, Sequencer, and Comparer available
Cons:
- Pricing
- Not ideal for beginners
- Logs between manual test and automated scanning can’t be separated
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Also known as IP scanner, it is a cross-platform and lightweight Internet Protocol scanner.
Pros:
- Available for Windows, Mac or Linux
- File formats like CSV, TXT, XML or IP-Port are where its scan reports can be saved
- Has Pros like NetBIOS information, favorite IP address ranges, web server detection, customizable openers
Cons:
- Pop-ups
- Intrusive ads
- Doesn’t have stealth scan
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
This is a free tool from Solarwinds, renowned for its accurate network path analysis. Traceroute NG’s paid version is called Network Performance Monitor. It can find out IP addresses, hostnames, and packet loss via Command-Line Interface.
Pros:
- Notifies path changes
- A .txt log file can be created by it
- Network Path Analysis available for TCP & ICMP
Cons:
- Speed
- Pricing
- Ease-of-access
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Essentially a penetration testing tool, it is also used as a web-scanner too. It is a pluggable CGI scanner architected in Perl which banks on rfp’s LibWhisker for with full HTTP support.
Pros:
- Support for Proxy, cookies & SSL
- CSV format for checking databases
- Conducts different types of tests against remote hosts
Cons:
- GUI should be present
- Customer support isn’t there
- Absence of free vulnerability list
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Also Read: How to Become a CEH Certified Expert [updated]
An online vulnerability scanner available for free, Intruder’s clients are more than 2000 companies. Claiming to discover 50 cracks daily, it supports integrations across GCP, AWS, Microsoft.
Pros:
- Uses best-available scanning engines in the industry
- Conducts easy-to-understand compliance audits to meet standards like SOC2, ISO27001
- Examines public, as well as private servers, cloud systems, websites, and endpoint devices
- Ideal for finding misconfigurations, missing patches, encryption weaknesses, and application bugs, like SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting, OWASP
Cons:
- Low customization
- Some tools are expensive
- Pros of Jira can be enhanced
- Complex interface for beginners
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
Ettercap is a free tool against session hacking. Here a malicious actor takes over a user"s session on a network in order to obtain sensitive information. They are also called man-in-the-middle attacks.
Pros:
- Support for SSH1, HTTP SSL available
- Users can sniff networks and filter content
- Reconnaissance on a network can be performed
- 3 interfaces, traditional command line, GUI and Ncurses available
Cons:
- Outdated GUI
- Available only on Linux & macOS
- Absence of regular product updates
- Source compilation needs dependencies and developer libraries
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
This is a group of tools from Solar Winds. Security Event Manager is an affordable tool for complete cybersecurity management. Customers can access it for a month for free.
Pros:
- Reputed as one of the best SIEM tools
- Log are collected & normalized centrally
- Looks at security compliances across the world
- Integrated reporting tools, including file integrity monitoring
Cons:
- Outdated graphics
- Absence of automatic updates
- Slow response times of the platform
- Security is overlayered for beginners
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: Yes
An open-source file and folder encryption tool serving its customers since 2001, AxCrypt’s services are available with a free 1-month trial.
Pros:
- Anonymous file names
- Active community for assistance
- AES-128 & AES-256 encryption
- Encryption algorithms are hard to break
Cons:
- Performance issues
- Limited Pros in free version
- Default settings are confusing
- Files can’t be viewed on desktops
Availability:
Play Store: Yes
App Store: No
Web: Yes
It is a company which serves customers for behavioral analytics, monitoring tools threat detection, threat protection, data loss prevention and business process engineering. Teramind has benefited 10,000 customers in its 8 years of operation. Its products can be tried for free as well as after paying.
Pros:
- Products can be used on Cloud, AWS, Azure & platform security
- Configurable video recording, audio recording and keystroke logging can be done from it
- Facilities like Scriptable Rule Logic, In-app field parsing, Optical Character Recognition offered
- Helps comply with standards like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, Sarbanes-Oxley, FISMA, ISO 27001 and NERC
Cons:
- Expensive individual licenses
- Smartphone monitoring absent
- Times out and reconnects spontaneously
- Can be used only with Windows & Apple
Availability:
Play Store: Yes
App Store: Yes
Web: Yes
Nagios is a company which offers solutions for monitoring IT infrastructure. It has both open source as well as paid solutions. Below we have listed 6 of its major offerings:
- Log Monitoring
- Linux Monitoring
- Server Monitoring
- SNMP Monitoring
- Windows Monitoring
- Application Monitoring
Pros:
- Customizable Code
- Extendable Architecture
- Multi-Tenant Capabilities
- Comprehensive Monitoring
- Customer & community support
Cons:
- Security
- Bandwidth Monitoring
- Interface not optimized enough
- Setup can seem complicated initially
Availability:
Play Store: No
App Store: No
Web: No
Which certification unlocks using these tools?
Your mind must be spoilt for choice, isn’t it?
As a professional, why can’t you architect more such solutions? Even in areas where are no products in-line with current threats.
For it, you need EC-Council"s Certified Ethical Hacker certification. Its recently launched 12th edition with new features, an updated syllabus is going to make the black-hat ones worried, and your colleagues envious. Your career is going to be the happiest, followed by that common user whose data confidentiality won’t be compromised, all because of you.
Mercury Solutions is your trusted and EC-Council"s Authorized Training Partner [ATP]. A Certified EC-Council Instructors [CEI] shall guide you with case studies, so that grounds for clearing the theory as well as CEH-Practical exam to attain the CEH- Master certification.
Conclusion
Meanwhile, please feel free to share more of your experiences regarding these ethical hacking tools and other tools which may be worthy of a future blog on this evergreen topic.
Also Read: Winning Benefits of CEH Certification [updated]
See you in the next blog!
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