Top Ethical Hacking Software for Security Professionals

Introduction

Ethical hacking is a legal way to access other systems or networks to identify potential threats. For example, a defence team trying to track if there is anything fishy happening around falls into ethical hacking. There are special permissions associated with these hacking processes, making the project legal and authorized. A hacker uses the latest ethical hacking tool options and software to complete the tasks, and the information they fetch gets utilized for various purposes.

Ethical hacking is a diverse field, and there are attractive job opportunities and attractive salary packages in it. A professional from an IT background can go for the CEH training and become a certified ethical hacker. Once you have a renowned certification to prove your worth, you can explore different opportunities and begin your professional journey in this field. You require a thorough understanding of ethical hacking tools and the field to become a proficient hacker and secure your future in this field. Let us begin by discussing every detail related to ethical hacking and the tools hackers use.

Ethical Hackers

Hacking is of various kinds, but primarily it is ethical and unethical. The names clearly suggest that one is an authorized way to dig into other networks, while the other is intrusion without legal permission. Thus, the professional handling the ethical hacking process is called an ethical hacker. These experts use various techniques to get the required information, and it is all legal as they have the permission, and their intentions are positive and towards a good cause.

To become an ethical hacker, one has to gain a deeper understanding of the tools and techniques used. It is possible through professional certification courses. Moreover, these certifications assure the employers that you are a proficient expert and that they can trust you with their ethical hacking projects. If you are also planning to take up the courses, choosing the ones from the list below is fruitful.

Ethical Hacking Certifications

There are countless certification options available for aspiring hackers. Understand that the courses are to make hackers. If you want to work in the white, black, or grey hacking field is definitely your choice. There will be study material for ethical hacking tools and techniques pdf and practical classes to get hands-on knowledge of the hacking industry. So, let us have a deeper insight into the certifications you can opt for.

Certified Ethical Hacking Certification

It is one of the oldest and most excellent certificate programs for professionals in the ethical hacking industry. The training intends to make the professional skilled enough to understand the vulnerabilities and learn code creation. It is the most sorted certification course which covers all the aspects of hacking.

CREST

It is a widely accepted certification exam that gets accepted worldwide. It helps train the professionals in the ethical hacking field, educating themselves to become proficient pen-testers. CREST is basically a non-profit organization that designs specialized courses to counter the risk of cyber-attacks and build premium-quality security barriers within a cyber-security segment.

Offensive Security Certified Professional

This certification course contains a wide variety of advanced pen testing exams and training programs, including web, advanced web exploitation, and wireless. The sole purpose of this certification course is to train a professional to identify vulnerabilities, generate and alter code, and implement it successfully to accomplish the task.

These are the primary hacking certifications that most professionals take up. Other than this, there is GIAC penetration tester certification, CompTIA PenTest+, and many other options available.

What are Hacking Tools?

There are multiple tools used by ethical hackers while working on a hacking project. These are the computer scripts, like other software tools you use in everyday life. They help you find the weaknesses in a system that can lead to easy intruder attacks. That is about the defence mechanism. At the same time, these tools help take out confidential information or identify potential threats to keep the network prepared.

When you take up the best cyber security certifications, you get access to many tools during the training period. There are tools present as an open-source; you can download them and use them the way you want. Moreover, if you are a professional with elaborate projects to complete, you may even have to buy a few tools made specifically for commercial use. In the beginning, you can only use the free tools that come with the ethical hacking tools pdf tutorial about its use. Once you gain proficiency, you can invest in paid tools.

Top Hacking Tools, Programs & Software: Free Downloads

There are countless free hacking tools that you can download and start using immediately. We have listed a few of the best tools to help you narrow the options and get the best software program to begin your professional journey.

Nmap

It is security scanner software that is open source and free for multiple platforms. The primary use of this tool is in port scanning, and it works absolutely well in it. It has the script-extensible feature that makes it excellent for vulnerability detection and adaptive to the issues like network congestion. Highlight features of the tool are:

• Graphical result viewing
• Compare the difference between two network scans.
• It is free hacking software that conveniently lets you do a complete scan.

Kismet

It is a sniffer or a wireless network detector. Kismet identifies the networks and detects the non-beaconing and hidden networks with the help of data traffic. The tool works efficiently with other wireless cards and supports the raw monitoring mode during scans. Some of the highlight features of this tool are:

• Runs well on different operating systems.
• Gives efficient results by conducting thorough scans.

Burp Suite

It is one of the most popular tools for security testing, used especially in web applications. It is a pack of hacker tools that work together to support the entire pen testing process. Each tool in the network supports hacking projects, from initial scans to elaborate testing. Some of the highlight features of the tool are:

• There is an automatic crawl and scan feature to ease the work of a professional.
• It is open-source and supports custom-built applications also.
• It gives 100% accurate results, detecting every possible vulnerability in the network.
• This software suite offers advanced scanning features for manual testers, rarely available in any other tool.

Sqlmap

It is a tool that automates the task of detecting the SQL flaws, exploiting them, and taking control of the database servers. As the name signifies, it helps you map the database addresses stored in SQL and do whatever you want with it. This software application supports all the SQL injection techniques, like Boolean-based blind, error-based, time-based blind, and likewise. Some of the highlight features of this hacking tool are:

• It is a powerful tool with utmost efficiency.
• Help execute the arbitrary commands given by the user.
• Support various database languages like MySql.

Metasploit

It is another open-source framework that comes in a professional format. If you use the pro version, you will have to pay for it. Metasploit dedicatedly works for the developers working in penetration testing to help them develop, execute and exploit the codes. Every ethical hacker has used the free or paid version of this tool during their career, as it has got plethoras of perks to offer! Some of the highlights of this tool are:

• It is ideal for finding security vulnerabilities.
• Helpful to create evasion and anti-forensic tools.
• Offers cross-platform support.

Nikto

Nikto is a web scanner that helps test various web applications and servers for flaws or vulnerabilities. The tool can conduct a generic scan or perform app-specific checks during the hacking process. Furthermore, you can also use Nikto to check version-specific problems in more than 270 servers, identifying the flaws and vulnerabilities in the network or some files. Some of the highlights of this tool are:

• Thoroughly tests the networks to identify insecure files and programs.
• Even checks the plug-ins in all the web applications, leaving no scope of missing out on a vulnerability.
• Check servers to ensure they are updated and find the server-specific issues.
• You can rely on it to find out the details about every file having a defect.

Wireshark

It is a renowned and most used free tool for ethical hacking. It helps analyze the data packets and performs a deep inspection of several network protocols. The feature that makes this popular hacking tool unique is that you can download your analysis reports in any format and save them for future reference. Some of the highlight features of this tool are:

• You can perform online and offline analysis.
• It offers cross-platform support to the hacker.
• It’s a free tool, with all its features available for everyone to use.

The list of free tools is endless! Once you understand and start using all these tools, you can develop ethical hacking tools with python. To begin with, the daunting research part is inevitable. Then, you can skip the research and exploration part and use any above-listed options. The ideal way is to take a virtual tour of the tools you think would be a better fit, checking all their features. Then, narrow the lists based on your virtual tour experience and the requirements, and finalize the one you feel is apt.

How Do You Use Hacking Software?

Using a software tool is similar, irrespective of the use. The step by step process of using hacking software is listed below:

• Choose the software you want to use after carefully comparing its features with the other options available for free.  
• Download the software tool from a reliable resource, ensuring it comes with a complete package of all the necessary documents and tools. Then, install it in your system, and once the process is complete, you can start using the software.  
• Take a tour of all the features and functionalities to get familiar with the software. It will help you use it with ease.  
• Test the software application with an external browser, and if the results are in favour, you are good to go.

After this, you can use the software you choose for different hacking projects. Make sure you follow each step religiously before bringing the software to actual use to get the expected results. If you join the KnowledgeHut CEH training, the educators will teach you about this process in detail.

Is it Legal to Use Hacking Tools?

One common question arising in people is if it is legal to use the hacking tools? The word hacking gets linked to intruder attacks which wash away the bank accounts or steal confidential information from the company databases. So, it is understandable for people to think that these tools are also illegal.

The simple answer to this is that there are no unethical hacking tools! It is the intention of the hacker and the purpose of hacking that gets categorized into authorized or unauthorized. Thus, one needs to ensure that software will only get used for the white hat hacking projects to find out if the use is legal or not. Secondly, it is vital to verify that the hacking tool you download has all the legal permissions from the target site. This way, a user can ensure that the software and its use are legal and authorized.

Conclusion

Ethical hacking tools are the backbone of a hacking project which helps the hacker identify and solve the potential threats. It is a wide IT field, which is very much in demand, especially after every business started turning to the online platforms. Every company needs to protect its network and data from intruder attacks and wants to identify the possible threats one time to make a strategy. It is only possible with the help of experts having proficiency in the field. Any professional with an IT background can take a certification course in ethical hacking. During this training course, he will learn to use different tools and techniques and gain proficiency in hacking. Continuous practice helps them gain more and more expertise and achieve professional excellence.

If you are also planning to start a career in this field, begin by referring to the online study material, enrol in a certification course, and practice your skills regularly. You will definitely get an attractive opportunity, and your career will get secured.