Cyberattacks faced by SMEs have increased by 66% in the past 12 months. This trend shows no decline but is increasingly becoming a harrowing reality for many companies. Companies that value cybersecurity have found measures to safeguard their assets further, and that is by opting for Penetration Testing. 

Penetration testing is the process of assessing the security measures for an asset like a web or mobile application to find vulnerabilities and mitigate them as well as areas of improvement for security.

Let us check out how valuable is pentesting  to cybersecurity and some of the best companies for the same. 

7 Best Tools For Penetration Testing

1. Astra Security

Features

• Scanner Capacity:
• Manual pentest: Yes
• Vulnerability management: Yes
• Price: $1,999/year

Astra Pentest is one of the top-notch penetration testing and vulnerability assessment services that combines automated vulnerability scanning with manual pentesting capabilities for comprehensive scan coverage.  

Astra Vulnerability Scanner

The Tool also runs 7000+ tests covering top CVEs, OWASP and SANS vulnerabilities. 

Scan Behind Logins

Astra vulnerability scanner runs authenticated scans behind login with the help of Astra’s login recorder plugin.

Vulnerability Management

Astra’s dashboard allows you to keep track of vulnerabilities and manage them efficiently throughout the remediation process after vulnerability scanning.

Hacker-Style Pentest

Expert pentesters at Astra detects critical vulnerabilities like payment gateway manipulation as well as logic errors. 

Pentest Reports

Astra’s pentest reports feature easy-to-follow remediation steps to help with mitigation. 

Pentest Certificate

Once the vulnerabilities are remediated and a rescan is carried out, a publicly verifiable pentest certificate with 6 months validity is issued to you.  

Advantages

• Can be integrated into your SDLC pipeline
• Continuous unlimited scanning 
• Regular updation of  scanner rules
• Helps prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities

Disadvantages

• It doesn’t offer a free trial run.

2. Intruder

Features: 

• Scanner Capacity: Network servers, cloud infrastructure and websites
• Manual pentest: No
• Vulnerability management: No
• Price: $1958/ year

This automated web pentest tool helps you monitor security risks across your websites, network servers and other assets. The tool covers a decent range of vulnerabilities and is known for its ease of use. 

Intruder scans for misconfigurations, outdated or missing patches. It allows you to gain a bird’s-eye view of your application’s security posture which aids in reducing the attack surface. 

Advantages

• Easy to navigate.
• Readily manageable alerts.

Disadvantages

• Only automated pentesting available. 
• Difficult to understand reports.
  

3. Acunetix

Features: 

• Scanner Capacity: Web applications
• Manual pentest: No
• Vulnerability management: Yes
• Price: $4,495/website

This automated pentesting tool was designed for efficiency allowing simultaneous scans of multiple environments, and 90% of scan results by the scan’s halftime. It also prioritizes the detected vulnerabilities.

Acunetix pinpoints locations of vulnerabilities, optimizes for coding-heavy sites, and shows you the code lines that need to be fixed to remediate the vulnerability.

Advantages

• Updates are released in a timely manner. 
• Detects vulnerabilities of varied severity.
• Tool provides detailed reports
  

Disadvantages

• Expert remediation assistance with professionals not available.

4. IndusfaceWAS

Features: 

• Scanner Capacity: APIs and Web apps 

• Manual Pentest: Yes

• Vulnerability Management: Yes
• Price: $199/app/ month

Indusface WAS provides both automated scans and manual pentests to help you detect business logic errors, OWASP top 10, and more. Zero false positives assurance and remediation assistance is provided by the tool. 

The tools scanner focuses on scanning single-page applications and they offer intelligent crawling.

Advantages

• Zero-day protection provided. 
• Maintain compliance with ISO 27001, PCI-DSS and more. 

Disadvantages

• Pentesting is not available for mobile apps.
• Reports are difficult to understand.

5. Nikto

Features: 

• Scanner Capacity: Web applications, servers 
• Manual pentest: No
• Vulnerability management: No 
• Price: Open-source

Nikto is a free tool that provides comprehensive tests on web servers and is capable of identifying nearly 7000 malicious files and applications.

This includes dangerous programs, outdated server versions, and problems specific to them. 

Advantages

• It is freely available. 
• Available in Kali Linux.

Disadvantages

• Nikto lacks a community platform.
• Does not have a graphic user interface.

6. Burp Suite

Features: 

• Scanner Capacity: Web apps
• Manual pentest: Yes
• Vulnerability management: No
• Price:  $449/per user/per year

Burp Suite is a manual penetration testing tool that is very useful for ethical hackers, and pentesters. Tools included with Burp Suite are Spider, Proxy, Intruder, Repeater, Decoder, and Sequencer. 

Burp Suite has both a free and a commercial edition, however, it is a tool for pentesters to use and not a tool that companies can deploy directly.

Advantages

• Open-source and commercial editions are available
• The user-interface is friendly.

Disadvantages

• Expensive commercial product.
• The free version is lacking in features.
  

7. Zed Attack Proxy

Features: 

• Scanner Capacity: Web applications, network ports, and APIs
• Manual pentest: Yes
• Vulnerability management: No 
• Price: Open-source

Zed Attack Proxy is an open-source pentesting tool that detects a wide number of web app vulnerabilities. It is available for Microsoft, Linux, and Mac. 

Advantages

• Easy user interface
• Can be used by security experts and beginners alike.

Disadvantages

• Features can be limited compared to commercially available tools.

Importance of Penetration Testing

1. Identifies vulnerabilities

Penetration testing is a proactive approach to discovering security flaws buried in your web and mobile applications, API, networks, or even cloud infrastructure before malicious actors can exploit them. It helps uncover vulnerabilities in components of the IT infrastructure.

2. Increases security efficiency

Pentesting helps in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, which improves the complete security posture of an organization. It allows your organization’s security teams to prioritize and allocate resources effectively. 

3. Helps maintain compliance

Most industries has stringent regulatory frameworks such as the PCI DSS, ISO 27001, SOC2, and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). 

They mandate regular risk assessments in the form of vulnerability assessments or penetration testing with which your organization can demonstrate compliance with these standards.

4. Boost company reputation

Regular pentesting helps demonstrate a commitment to security that can enhance the trust customers, partners, and stakeholders have in your organization. This shows that your company is serious about its cybersecurity and is willing to invest in sensitive data protection. 

How To Choose A Good Pentesting Tool? 

Choosing a good pentesting tool requires certain factors to be considered. They include: 

Reputation of Tool

Look for a well-known tool that is respected in the industry. You can look for reviews from reputed review sites such Gartner, G2, and more. Communicating with previous customers who obtained the company’s services is also one way to learn more about them and their products. 

Look for Integrations

The tool under consideration should be able to integrate well with the other security tools used by you. Another aspect of integrations to consider is how well the tool can be implemented within your organization’s SDLC (software development lifecycle). 

Customizable, Actionable Reports

The pentest tool should provide customizable and actionable reports that are easy to understand for both CXOs, CTOs, and developers alike. Customization allows for unnecessarily detailed information to be filtered out according to the audience in mind. 

A CXO would need a summarized takeaway from the vulnerability report whereas developers would require a detailed report with complete information about the vulnerabilities, their technical aspects, and steps for reproducing and mitigating them. 

Remediation Support

The tool should prioritize vulnerabilities based on severity and offer guidance on how to fix the identified vulnerabilities with Proof of Concept videos and detailed steps mentioned in the report. Pentesters should also be available for query clearance so that developers can have a clear picture of the vulnerabilities that need to be resolved. 

Automated & Manual Testing

The tool should be able to perform both automated and manual testing to ensure comprehensive coverage. Carrying out automated pentesting increases the chances of missing vulnerabilities during scans, whereas when manual testing is added to it, the test becomes more exhaustive since pentesters have a more nuanced understanding of vulnerability-prone areas. 

Strong communication between you and your chosen pentest provider is ideal for setting a comprehensive scope. The pentest tool should be easy to configure and use. Other factors that play a role in choosing the right pentest tool are budget, scalability, reusability, and collaborative skills. 

Conclusion

The need for penetration testing and vulnerability assessment services keeps growing by the day in terms of testing security, securing assets, and maintaining compliance. The current scenario of booming cyber attacks necessitates the implementation of cybersecurity measures and their thorough testing.

Tools like Astra Security provides thorough vulnerability assessment services for assets through combined manual and automated pentesting, remediation support, and tailored reporting styles. Secure your business today by opting for the best pentesting tool for your cybersecurity testing needs! 

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