Which Tools Are Used For Ethical Hacking?

Are you looking for a challenging career that helps you strengthen your skills and apply them to solve real-world problems? If yes, then an ethical hacker role might just be the right career choice for you. The role of an ethical hacker requires you to be as tricky as a malicious hacker and close all the loopholes before they can be exploited and harm an organization. They look for vulnerabilities that can lead to a security breach and offer suitable remediation solutions. They assess the security of an organization’s digital assets and search for attack vectors against the target.

Ethical hackers gain more and more information about the computer systems of an organization so as to help them assess and improve security. They work behind the scenes to proactively expose weaknesses, try to keep services running smoothly with data protection and thwart cyberattacks in real time. You can understand how crucial is the task of an ethical hacker. However, can all the tasks of an ethical hacker be accomplished manually? Obviously not! A skilled hacker always needs to keep a wide variety of tools to get their job done.  

As the world of cybersecurity keeps on evolving, a number of valuable and effective tools have been introduced in the market that helps perform ethical hacking more efficiently. Do you have any idea about such top hacking software? Well, you can read on to find out which tools are widely used for the purpose of ethical hacking.

Here goes the list!

Nikto

Nikto is described as a pluggable web server and CGI (common gateway interface) scanner that is written in Perl programming language. A CGI scanner is basically a program that looks for known vulnerabilities in web servers and application programs. Ethical hackers use this tool to conduct comprehensive tests against web servers for various cybersecurity threats. The tool features SSL support, proxy support, and cookies support and can be used for finding SQL injections and installed software, reporting unusual headers, and guessing credentials for authorization.

NetStumbler

NetStumbler or Network Stumbler is a tool that helps in detecting wireless LANs using WLAN standards like 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11g. White hat hackers rely on this tool when they have to verify network configurations, find locations with poor coverage in one’s WLAN, detect causes of wireless interference, detect unauthorized access points, and aim directional antennas for long-haul WLAN links. Apart from ethical hackers, the tool is also suitable for network administrators who want to verify the network configuration and the availability of Wi-Fi signals at any facility.

Intruder

If you want to find cybersecurity weaknesses in your digital infrastructure and avoid costly cyberattacks, then use the online vulnerability scanner called Intruder. Using this tool, your organization can enjoy the same level of security as big banks and governments across the world without any complexity. The tool involves industry-leading scanning engines that can scan publicly and privately accessible cloud systems, servers, endpoint devices, and websites. Vulnerabilities like application bugs, misconfigurations, encryption weaknesses, missing patches, cross-site scripting, and OQASP top 10 can be effectively identified by Intruder.

Metasploit

Using Metasploit, ethical hackers can go beyond just identifying vulnerabilities, managing security assessments, and improving security awareness, to empower themselves to stay one step ahead of the game. You can opt for the Metasploit framework if you are a developer or security researcher and simply looking for a basic command-line interface and manual exploitation. On the other hand, if you are a penetration tester or part of an IT security team, then you can go for Metasploit Pro, which offers a comprehensive set of advanced features. This Ruby-based open-source framework can also be extended through coding to act as an add-on that supports multiple languages.

Ettercap

Ettercap is a comprehensive suite designed for ethical hackers dealing with cyberattacks. The tool supports sniffing of live connections, content filtering on the fly, and many other fascinating tricks. It supports active and passive dissection of various protocols and offers many features for network and host analysis. The tool has the ability to detect a switched LAN and use OS fingerprints to find the geometry of the LAN. Ettercap offers three interfaces – traditional command line, GUI, and NCurses. Using the tool, you can perform sniffing in four modes – MAC based, IP based, ARP based (full-duplex), and PublicARP based (half-duplex).

Learn How to Use These Tools!

In light of the increasing number of Internet security threats, employers are now seeking certified ethical hackers who have taken courses such as the Certified Ethical Hacking Course in order to prevent fraud and identity theft. In spite of highly sophisticated defenses, cybercriminals have always exploited the weakest link in the chain: the end user.

After becoming familiar with the top ethical hacking tools, don’t you want to find a way to learn them and enhance your hacking skills? Well, we recommend that you take an online ethical hacking course, one that not only includes theoretical concepts but also involves knowledge of popular hacking tools. Reliable training providers like Simplilearn, Coursera, and LinkedIn Learning offer such courses and help you gain the required practical exposure.

Note that not all the courses will include the tools mentioned above. There are many ethical hacking tools available in the market, and training courses include only those which are widely used across companies. So, enroll in a suitable training course today and become a successful ethical hacker. 

Also Read: IT Security – Fit For Managed Security Services In 6 Steps