Cyber Security has become a top priority among organizations due to the amount of confidential data and financial records they have flowing into their systems regularly. The regular need for technology to carry out almost every single task has resulted in the proliferation of cybercrimes. Here, we will come across the Cyber Security tools list consisting of numerous tools, which are paid, free, or open-source, that allow companies to keep their data secure and prevent all sorts of compromised data, financial loss, etc.

In this blog on tools used in Cyber Security, we will read in detail about the following topics:

• Types of Cyber Security Tools
• Kali Linux
• Cain and Abel
• Metasploit
• John the Ripper
• Wireshark
• Nikto
• Tcpdump
• KisMAC
• NetStumbler
• Splunk
• Forcepoint
• Aircrack-ng
• Nexpose
• Nagios
• KeePass
• Burp Suite
• POf
• Paros Proxy
• Nmap
• Nessus Professional
• Master a Cyber Security Tool

These are the numerous tools in Cyber Security that allow professionals to protect their systems and organizations from any attacks.

Types of Cyber Security Tools

The Cyber Security tools can largely be divided into a number of categories. The categories in which these tools can be classified are listed below:

• Penetration testing
• Packet sniffers
• Encryption
• Scanning web vulnerability
• Network defenses
• Network security monitoring
• Detecting network intrusions

Before learning in detail about the numerous tools used in Cyber Security, check out this tutorial on Cyber Security to get a brief idea of this IT field:

Now, it is time to read in detail about some of the most popular tools in the field of Cyber Security. Let’s begin.

1. Kali Linux

Kali Linux is among the most common tools used in Cyber Security. This operating system consists of a range of tools that are useful in security auditing, network and system scanning for vulnerabilities, etc.

One of the main advantages of this platform is that Cyber Security experts with different levels of understanding can use it, making it an ideal choice even for entry-level professionals. Besides, a lot of the tools offered by Kali Linux are easily executable, allowing users to monitor the company’s network security systems using a single click.

2. Cain and Abel

Cain and Abel is one the oldest and best Cyber Security tools that helps in identifying the weaknesses in Windows and password recovery. It allows Cyber Security experts to find vulnerabilities in the password security of various systems that run on Windows.

Among its numerous functionalities, the significant ones include its ability to keep a record of VoIP communications and analyze routing protocols to figure out if the routed data packets can get compromised. This free tool for Cyber Security can disclose password boxes and cached passwords, etc., while also being capable of using force attacks that help in cracking encrypted passwords. Further, it helps in decoding passwords that are scrambled.

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3. Metasploit

Metasploit has an excellent collection of tools that are perfect for penetration testing. Professionals often use it to meet a range of security objectives, such as discovering vulnerabilities of systems and networks, designing strategies to improve the company’s Cyber Security defenses, and more.

Metasploit enables experts to test system security of online and web-based applications, servers, networks, etc. One of the advantages of this software is that it can uncover even emerging weaknesses and provide top-notch security round the clock.

4. John the Ripper

Security experts use John the Ripper to test the strength of passwords. Its design helps in exposing weak passwords that pose security threats to a particular system. In the beginning, it was only designed for the UNIX platform, but the new versions allow it to work on other operating systems as well, such as DOS, Windows, OpenVMS systems, etc.

John the Ripper searches for complex ciphers, encrypted login credentials, and hash-like passwords to find any weak password. This tool is developed and updated regularly to make sure that it offers accurate results during penetration testing. It is among the most ideal choices of Cyber Security experts to enhance password security.

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5. Wireshark

Wireshark was earlier called Ethereal. It is among the best tools for Cyber Security, based on the console. It is a packet sniffer tool that allows professionals to analyze network protocols and sniff real-time networks in search of any vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Moreover, it collects necessary information related to the levels of network traffic.

Cyber Security professionals use this tool to store data packets and to identify the behavior and characteristics that each packet exhibits. This knowledge helps in identifying the weakness of network security. It basically keeps an eye on the network packets and presents them in a readable format. It is one of the best Cyber Security open-source tools available.

6. Nikto

Nikto is an open-source software tool used in Cyber Security to determine vulnerabilities in the web and take necessary actions. Professionals use this tool to scan for identifying and managing web vulnerabilities. Nikto’s database consists of approximately 6,400 distinct types of security threats. The database offers the threat data that can be used to compare with the web vulnerability scan result. This scan covers both web servers and networks.

This tool is updated continuously, allowing users to recognize new web vulnerabilities easily. Besides, various plugins are created regularly to make them compatible with different systems.

7. Tcpdump

Tcpdump is a useful packet sniffing tool for networks. It helps in monitoring and logging TCP/IP traffic that is shared over a network. This command-based software tool analyzes the traffic of the systems, along with the network that the traffic goes through. Besides, this tool tests the network security by segregating TCP/IP data traffic received via the Internet. Tcpdump also defines the contents of the network traffic packets.

8. KisMAC

KisMAC is specifically created for providing wireless network security in MAC operating systems. This network-defined tool has numerous high-end features that are geared to be used by experts in the field, so it may not be the best choice of tool for freshers and entry-level security professionals.

KisMAC scans wireless networks that are supported on Wi-Fi cards, like Airport. It uses brute force attacks, weak scheduling, exploiting flaws, and many similar techniques to get into the security of WEP and WPA keys. If experts are able to crack them, it suggests that the keys are not secure enough, making the network vulnerable to possible cyberattacks.

9. NetStumbler

NetStumbler is a popular Cyber Security tool created for systems that run on the Windows operating system. It enables IT and Cyber Security experts to recognize open network ports and is extremely useful for the purpose of wardriving. Since it is specifically designed to run on Windows, it has no allocation for source codes. While looking for open-source network ports, it uses WAP-seeking methods unlike other tools in Cyber Security, which has made it popular among organizations for network defense.

10. Splunk

Splunk is a system security tool known due to its versatility and speed. It is one of the best tools to monitor network security. Splunk is used to conduct real-time network analysis and perform historical searches to look for threat data. This user-friendly tool is equipped with a unified user interface, along with numerous functionalities and techniques that help in the process of searching for required information.

It is an all-rounded system security tool that is also used to gather, store, and index data in repositories to generate real-time alerts, reports, visualizations, graphs, and dashboards.

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11. Forcepoint

Forcepoint is a security tool, primarily meant for cloud users, that allows experts to customize SD-Wan to restrict users from being able to access certain resource data. This customization also allows them to block intrusions and probable exploitation of vulnerabilities.

This tool helps Network Admins to detect malicious acts in a network easily, giving them enough time to take necessary actions to prevent them. This is one of the significant benefits of Forcepoint over other tools as they are designed to track the problems so that users can apply the required techniques to fix them later. One of its significant functionalities in the cloud is that it warns or blocks cloud servers that pose security risks to the systems. Further, it offers a high level of security in other applications with significant data.

12. Aircrack-ng

This tool consists of numerous methods that help in analyzing the vulnerabilities of Wi-Fi security. Experts use Aircrack-ng to gather data packets connected through a network for the process of continuous monitoring. Moreover, it enables Cyber Security professionals to use its functions to export these data packets to understandable text files that can go through various security assessments.

Aircrack-ng also supports capture and injection that are crucial in terms of assessing network cards’ performance. Moreover, it tests how reliable the WEP and WPA-PSK keys are by cracking them and helps an organization understand the strength of the network. This is the perfect tool to enhance and improve the network security of an organization.

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13. Nexpose

Nexpose offers real-time functionalities to security professionals to scan and manage weaknesses in on-premises systems. It allows experts to find weaknesses in the systems and use that knowledge to identify and minimize the possible attacks.

Moreover, Nexpose offers a live view of various network activities to the security team. It refreshes its database regularly so that it can adapt to various types of threat environments in software and data, ensuring that the tool has the latest threat data. Also, professionals in Cyber Security can use Nexpose to assign risk scores to the weaknesses it finds, creating a priority list based on security levels.

14. Nagios

Nagios allows security professionals to efficiently monitor various networks, such as NNTP, POP3, SMTP, HTTP, ICMP, and more. Moreover, it monitors the connected systems and hosts in real time. As soon as it detects a security issue or intrusion in the network, it sends out an alert to users to warn them of the same. Here, the users have the option to choose the notification alerts that they wish to get and the ones they do not.

Also, check out this blog on the Top 20 Hacking Tools!

15. KeePass

Professionals in IT Security often use KeePass for the purpose of identity management. It allows users to use a master password to access all of their accounts they use for work. It combines security and convenience, which gives it an edge over the other Cyber Security tools for identity management.

There are numerous network and system breaches that are caused due to inaccurate password management, but this possibility is also eliminated by KeePass. This application software is used in companies and offices as it can help security experts to find possible risks that are caused due to human elements.

16. Burp Suite

Burp Suite is a robust tool used in the field of Cyber Security that allows organizations to enhance their network security. Security experts use Burp Suite to perform real-time scans on systems focusing on identifying vital vulnerabilities that can have a large impact on the company’s security. Moreover, it simulates attacks to find the different ways in which these threats can weaken and compromise the security of the network.

Burp Suite has three versions, namely, Community, Professional, and Enterprise. The Community version of Burp Suite is available for free, but a lot of features are restricted and cannot be used in this version. It only offers the essential manual tools. The Professional and Enterprise versions of Burp Suite are for commercial use, and hence, they are not available for free use. Though it can be a little expensive for small companies, Burp Suite is among the top choices of security tools for most organizations.

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17. POf

POf is a widely adopted Cyber Security tool that enables companies to monitor networks, regardless of any updates released by developers for a while. The tool does not create any extra data traffic while monitoring the network, making it an efficient network security tool. It is used by professionals to depict the host operating systems that are connected to a network.

POf allows Cyber Security professionals to perform a range of functionalities, such as building name lookups, assorted queries, probes, etc. Its quick and lightweight nature has made it popular among Cyber Security specialists with advanced skills, but not among beginners as they may find it difficult to learn and use the tool.

18. Paros Proxy

Paros Proxy is a Java-based security tool comprising a set of useful tools that allow experts to perform several security tests that lead to the discovery of various vulnerabilities in the web. Web spiders, vulnerability scanners, and the traffic recorded to retain real-time network activities are some of the significant tools available in Paros Proxy. Moreover, it enables experts to identify network intrusions.

Paros Proxy also helps in uncovering basic and popular Cyber Security threats, including SQL injection attacks and cross-site scripting. Besides, one of its main benefits is that it can easily be edited with the help of rudimentary Java or HTTP/HTTPS. In simple terms, Paros Proxy is an ideal tool to find network vulnerabilities before cyber attackers and hackers exploit them to cause breaches.

19. Nmap

Nmap is otherwise called Network Mapper. It is a free and open-source tool in Cyber Security that can help in scanning IT systems and networks to recognize security vulnerabilities. Further, it enables professionals to map out possible areas of attacks on the network, monitor host uptime and service, and take significant security measures accordingly.

Nmap can run on almost all popular operating systems, which makes it a preferred tool among professionals. Apart from that, it allows experts to scan for vulnerabilities on the web, irrespective of the size of the network. Also, it provides the IT professionals with an overview of the characteristics of the network, such as the types of packet filters and firewalls deployed to keep the network secure, the hosts that are connected to the network, the operating system it runs on, etc.

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20. Nessus Professional

This tool helps organizations improve network integrity and rectify numerous flaws, including misconfiguration of the security settings, implementing incorrect security patches, and many other mistakes. Besides, Nessus Professional allows professionals to find weaknesses in the network, such as software bugs, incorrect security configurations in operating systems, IT devices, and software applications, missing and incomplete patches, etc., and manage them as required.

The Nessus Pro version enables security experts to utilize its free vulnerability scanner that helps in finding possible threats and exploits. Besides, one of its main benefits is that its database is regularly updated with the new and updated threat data, allowing it to contain the latest details regarding the vulnerabilities found on the network.

Master a Cyber Security Tool

In this ‘Top 20 Cyber Security Tools to Look out for in 2021’ blog, you have read in-depth about some of the most popular and commonly used tools in the field of Cyber Security. If you are aspiring to become a professional in this field, then it is important that you not only get trained in it but learn to use some of these tools to gain a competitive edge while applying for jobs. This list of tools aims to help you choose those that are best suited for your experience and career. Get started!

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