Cybercriminals continue to evolve and find new, sophisticated ways to wreak havoc, so cybersecurity professionals need to become smarter to stop them. Staying ahead of the malicious cyber actors requires top-notch security tools - capable of keeping modern attackers in check.
A penetration tester needs to use the best tools for inspecting, detecting, and mitigating attacks. There is a wide range of premium-grade tools you can use. Each of these tools is furnished with features that help it detect new forms of attacks. That said, finding the tools that suit your project can be challenging.
This article will cover the top 10 best pentesting tools for pros, including some of the tools we use for our day-to-day tasks. Do you want to be a thousand miles ahead of cybercriminals with an advanced pentesting toolset? Keep reading!
1. Nmap
Nmap (Network Mapper) is one of our leading auditing and network security testing tools. It has state-of-the-art features that enable network admins to take care of security inventory, execute service management, and properly perform host monitoring. Nmap is a flexible, open-source tool. It is ideal for performing network scans for small to large networks, helping pentesters get OS info, server info, ping sweeps, etc.
Key Features
- It is readily available and easy to verify as an open-source tool
- Easy to use
- Has extensive network features
- Makes spotting potential vulnerabilities possible
- Enables pentesters to create an inventory of all devices, operating systems, and applications connected to a network
- Capable of scanning large networks of hundreds of thousands of machines
- Maintains a wide range of advanced network mapping techniques
- Many operating systems are supported, including Linux, Microsoft Windows, OpenBSD, Sun OS, Amiga, etc.
- Great documentation
- Supported by an active community of developers
- Popular and widely used - with thousands of downloads per day
2. Burp Suite Pro
This is the tool we use for pen-testing inventory. It offers scalable, automated scanning and enables you to secure your web infrastructure, integrate security with development, and free time for AppSec to get more done. Burp Suite Pro offers up to three products: Burp Suite Enterprise Edition, Burp Suite Professional, and Burp Suite Community Edition.
Key Features
- Enterprise-enabled dynamic web vulnerability scanner
- Improved manual testing
- Helps you find more vulnerabilities faster with a top-notch toolkit created and used by pros
- Enables DevSecOps, which helps with the early discovery of bugs and fast shipping of secure software
- Makes finding bugs easy and fast
- Reduce risk and save time/money with automated scanning
- Top-notch security monitoring features
- Offers effective vulnerability filtering features with CI/CD integrations and scheduled scans
- Reliable remediation tips and pentesting reports
3. Attackforge
Attackforge offers penetration testing workflow management and collaboration & productivity solutions for technology and security teams. The software helps you get things done faster and save time & money on managing projects. It makes workflow faster and more cost-effective by reducing vulnerability remediation times and shortening time-to-market.
Key Features
- It has three main products - Community, Core, and Enterprise
- Community is for freelancers, bug bounty hunters, and small teams
- Core is for SMBs and consultancies
- Enterprise is right for large institutions
- Get customizable reports at the click of a button
- Extensive documentation
- Tools and workflows that enable you to cut pentest overheads by up to 40%
- Integrated solutions that enable you to spot and fix issues faster
- Widely trusted across the globe, industries, and verticals
4. Kali Linux
This is one of the most advanced penetration testing distributions. The Kali Linux pentest platform features a wide range of tools and solutions, including data collation and reporting features. The software provides the capabilities security professionals need to assess the security of their systems.
Key Features
- Optimized to make your penetration testing job faster and easier
- Available on various platforms, including Mobile devices, Docker, ARM, Amazon Web Services, Windows Subsystem for Linux, Virtual Machine, etc
- You can generate a custom version of Kali for your needs leveraging meta-packages and well documented ISO customization process
- Extensive documentation to help you solve problems faster
- Kali Linux has a reliable, vibrant community
5. Cyver Core
Cyver Core is a pentest management platform that streamlines penetration testing workflows, client collaboration, report automation, project management, and pentest-as-a-Service delivery. This platform offers a range of cutting-edge tools your security team needs to get things done efficiently, faster, and with fewer resources.
Key Features
- Manual processes automation tools
- Manage projects, automate results, and scale workloads with cloud tools
- Integrate with other pentest tools like Burp Suite, Nessus, NMap, etc.
- Enables client collaboration, pentest management, and long-term scheduling
- Ability to integrate other tools reduces or eliminates the need to shuttle between third-party tools
- A secure cloud portal
- Built-in framework for DigiD pentest reports
6. Wireshark
Wireshark enables network analyzers to have control over network activities. It helps security professionals to monitor network protocols effectively and with ease. It is marketed as the world’s best and most widely-used network protocol analyzer. This tool is commonly used across commercial enterprises, government agencies, and learning institutions.
Key Features
- Enables network analyzers to see what is going on at a microscopic level
- Maintained by a network of volunteer contributors
- The project has stood the test of time - started by Gerald Combs in 1998
- Effective inspection of hundreds of protocols
- You can capture live and analyze offline
- Offers standard three-pane packet browser
7. Metasploit
Metasploit is one of the leading pentesting frameworks you can use to check any network for security loopholes. The tool is marketed as the world’s most used penetration testing framework. Metasploit enables security teams to verify vulnerabilities, manage security evaluations, and enhance security awareness.
Key Features
- There are Metasploit Framework and Metasploit Pro
- Metasploit Pro is suitable for penetration testers and IT security teams
- Metasploit Pro provides a set of advanced features
- Metasploit Framework is great for developers and security researchers
- Responsive support platform
- The company has other products, like InsightVM, which helps with advanced vulnerability management analytics and reporting.
8. Acunetix Manual Tools
Acunetix offers a free suite of manual pen testing tools. These set of top-notch manual tools consist of 8 modules, including HTTP Editor, Subdomain Scanner, Target Finder, Blind SQL Injector, HTTP Fuzzer, Authentication Tester, Web Services Editor, and HTTP Sniffer.
Key Features
- Not an open source project
- The tools are free for private and commercial use
- For now, the tools are only available for Microsoft Windows OS
- They support graphical interface only
- The tools do not support the command line
- Can be used with other pen test tools, like Metasploit exploitation framework, w3af audit framework, and Wireshark
- Find advanced security loopholes that automated scanners cannot detect
9. Testssl.SH
This is a free command line tool that monitors a server’s service on any port for the support of TLS/SSL ciphers, and protocols - including some cryptographic challenges. The tool is reliable and 100% open source.
Key Features
- There are many command line options, enabling you to run your test and configure your outcome
- Offers top-notch privacy features - only you have access to the result
- Enjoy profound flexibility
- A Dockerfile is avaialable
- The clear output helps you to easily analyze the result
- Machine-readable output (CSV, two JSON formats)
- You do not need to install or configure something
10. Hashcat
This advanced password recovery tool can crack through over 90 algorithms, including DCC, MySQL, Cisco PIX, NTLM, and many others. It is the world’s fastest password cracker and the first and only in-kernel rule engine.
Key Features
- It is free
- Open-source - licensed by MIT
- Multi-platform password cracker
- multi-OS password cracker
- Can be used to crack multiple hashes concurrently
- Has a built-in benchmarking system
- Features distributed cracking networks
- Features password candidate brain functionality
- Features restore, sessions, and interactive pause/resume
- Has top-notch performance
Wrapping Up
The strength of your security team significantly depends on the penetration testing tools they use. Using the wrong tool could lead to undesirable outcomes, like security breaches and reputational damage. It goes without saying that any security team that wants to secure a digital environment effectively must invest in cutting-edge penetration testing tools and hire the best hands.
With the best security tools and experienced pentest experts, your organization will always be a thousand steps ahead of cybercriminals. Are you looking to hire the best penetration testers? Look no further than WebSec, a top-rated cyber security company with some years of experience.
We have industry-leading penetration testers with many years of experience. Here at WebSec, we offer custom pentest solutions that suit your needs. Contact us to learn more about our cybersecurity services.