1. Nessus DOWNLOAD
Nessus is a Network Vulnerability Scanner tool based on a client-server model. It features high speed discovery, configuration auditing, asset profiling, and vulnerability analysis of your network and systems. It is constantly updated with more than 11,000 plugins for the free version. Every audit in Nessus is coded as a plugin : a simple program which checks for a given flaw. Plugins can be enabled or disabled accordingly, depending on the kind of Vulnerability analysis required for the specific network. Nessus works on Windows, Linux, OpenBSD, FreeBSD and other Unix flavors.
2. Snort DOWNLOAD
Arguably one of the best network intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS) is the free and open source Snort toolkit. Through protocol analysis, content searching, and various pre-processors, Snort detects thousands of worms, vulnerability exploit attempts, port scans, and other suspicious behavior. Snort works on many operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD etc. Snort utilizes a rule-based language that combines the benefits of signature inspection, protocol inspection, and anomaly-based inspection. You can configure Snort to run in a few different modes such as Sniffer mode, Packet Logger mode, and Network Intrusion Detection (NIDS) mode.
3. Netcat DOWNLOAD
Netcat is sometimes called the ‘Network Swiss Army Knife’, which shows how many different things you can do with this little utility. Its main functionality is to read and write data across TCP or UDP connections. At the same time, it is a feature-rich network debugging and exploration tool, since it can create almost any kind of connection you would need, including port binding to accept incoming connections. Some of the potential uses of Netcat on a network include Script Backend, scanning ports, server testing and simulation, firewall testing, address spoofing tests etc. Netcat runs on Windows, Linux, and other Unix flavors.
4. Kismet DOWNLOAD
With the ever increasing use of wireless networks and the popularity of the WiFi 802.11 standard, a tool to audit the wireless infrastructure is essential in any network. Kismet is a layer 2 wireless network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system. It can discover and report the IP range used for a particular wireless network, as well as its signal and noise levels. Kismet can also capture or “sniff” all network management data packets for an available wireless network. You can use Kismet to locate available wireless networks, troubleshoot wireless networks, optimize signal strength for access points and clients, and detect network intrusions. It can work on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris etc.
5. Cain and Abel DOWNLOAD
This is a Windows only password recovery tool. It can recover passwords by sniffing the network, cracking encrypted passwords using Dictionary, Brute-Force and Cryptanalysis attacks, recording VoIP conversations, decoding scrambled passwords, revealing password boxes, uncovering cached passwords and analyzing routing protocols. Its only drawback is that it works only on Windows OS.
6. Metasploit DOWNLOAD
The Metasploit framework is a vulnerability exploitation tool. After scanning your network for vulnerabilities (lets say using Nessus tool), it is critical to verify that those vulnerabilities found are indeed valid. Metasploit can therefore be used to exploit those vulnerabilities (e.g by obtaining root or console access on the vulnerable host) and verify the validity of the security flaw. Metasploit provides useful information to people who perform penetration testing, IDS signature development, and exploit research. The Metasploit project was created to provide information on exploit techniques and to create a useful resource for exploit developers and security professionals.
7. Nmap DOWNLOAD
Network Mapper (Nmap) is a free and open source network port scanner. Nmap uses IP packets to scan a network and determine what hosts are available, what services, applications and operating systems are running on those hosts, what kind of network filtering (firewalls etc) is used and many other characteristics. Nmap can be installed on most operating systems, such as Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, Solaris, Mac OS etc.
8. John the Ripper DOWNLOAD
John the Ripper is one of the fastest password cracker tools available. Its main purpose is to detect weak Unix passwords. You can import password wordlists to start the brute force attack. It can work with several crypt(3) password hash types which are most commonly found on various Unix flavors, as well as Kerberos AFS and Windows NT/2000/XP LM hashes. John the Ripper is a multiplatform tool, working in many flavors of Unix, windows, Open VMS etc.
9. Nikto DOWNLOAD
Nikto is an Open Source web server scanner which performs comprehensive tests against web servers for multiple items, including over 3500 potentially dangerous files/CGIs, versions on over 900 servers, and version specific problems on over 250 servers. Scan items and plugins are frequently updated and can be automatically updated (if desired).
Not every check is a security problem, though most are. There are some items that are “info only” type checks that look for items that may not have a security flaw, but the webmaster or security engineer may not know are present on the server. These items are usually marked appropriately in the information printed. There are also some checks for unknown items which have been seen scanned for in log files. 10. Tcpdump DOWNLOAD
10. Tcpdump DOWNLOAD
Tcpdump is the IP sniffer we all used before Ethereal (Wireshark) came on the scene, and many of us continue to use it frequently. It may not have the bells and whistles (such as a pretty GUI or parsing logic for hundreds of application protocols) that Wireshark has, but it does the job well and with fewer security holes. It also requires fewer system resources. While it doesn’t receive new features often, it is actively maintained to fix bugs and portability problems. It is great for tracking down network problems or monitoring activity.
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