Working Cybersecurity? Here Are a Few Penetration Testing Tools You Might Need
When you work cybersecurity, you need to have penetration testing tools that you can trust in your job. Find out how they work here.
Within the next 5 years, pentesting will become a $2.8 billion market.
A good pentester is always in demand. But a pentester is only as good as his tools. Finding the perfect tools for the job can be difficult, particularly if you are just starting out.
We are here to help. Read on for some of our favorite penetration testing tools, and how they work.
1. Responder
Responder is one of the first tools you should run when you start pentesting a network. It works by listening for and poisoning responses from a selection of protocols:
- Link-Local Multicast Name Resolution
- NetBIOS Name Service
- Web Proxy Auto-Discovery
These protocols all broadcast across a network, which means that can be exploited. This is done by cracking the protocols' handshakes, opening up the network.
Mitigation for these vulnerabilities is straightforward. You can either disable irrelevant protocols or migrate to newer, more secure services.
2. Probely
Probely is a Web Application scanner that can find security issues. Not only does it uncover vulnerabilities, it actually provides guidance on how to fix them.
Although it can be used for one-off scanning, its features are all available through an API. This means that it can integrate into your workflow for continuous automated testing.
With a free version and trials available, Probely is well worth a try. It could well become a mainstay of your penetration testing toolkit.
3. John the Ripper
Passwords remain one of the main security risks for a network. Once an attacker has a password they can use even low-level access to the network to steal further credentials. From there, the entire network is open.
This means that password cracking is a vital aspect of penetration testing. John the Ripper is a free open source tool that combines many password crackers into a single system. It can identify different password hashes and be customized to your liking.
You can use it to find any weaknesses in databases and systems.
4. Wireshark
Wireshark is a free, open-sourced packet analyzer. It provides a suite of features that match and in many ways surpass it's paid rivals.
Able to analyze the most minute details on a network, it is available on almost every relevant operating system.
Wireshark is the most widely used program on our list. It can check network traffic all the way from connection to the individual content of packets.
While penetration testing, you can use the data in captured packets to find their sender, protocol and destination. From this, you can easily find security problems with your network.
Invaluable Penetration Testing Tools
Adding any of these to your penetration testing tools will make your life easier and help you become a better pentester.
They will allow you to uncover problems including broadcasting protocols and unsecured passwords. They also provide you with the ability to drill down into a network.
If you are looking for penetration testing jobs, then be sure to post your resume.
Our next generation job portal is the best way to keep up with job search trends to secure work in the information technology space.
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