Pentesting, or penetration testing, is a fundamental technique for assessing the security of computer systems, networks, and web applications. To perform effective pentesting, it is crucial to have a set of specialized tools. These tools can be grouped into several categories according to their specific purpose in the pentesting process. The following is a classification of these tools along with a description of each group.
These tools are used to gather information about the target before performing any attack. The reconnaissance phase is crucial to understand the infrastructure and potential vulnerabilities of the target system.
- Nmap: Port scanning and service detection tool.
- Maltego: Platform for information gathering and relationship analysis.
- Recon-ng: Web-based reconnaissance framework.
- Gobuster: Brute-force tool for hidden directories and files.
These tools allow us to identify possible vulnerabilities in systems, applications and networks. They are essential for detecting weak points that can be exploited during pentesting.
- Nessus: Vulnerability scanner.
- OpenVAS: Vulnerability management platform and security scanner.
- Nikto: Web scanner to identify potential configuration problems.
- Acunetix: Automated web security scanner to detect vulnerabilities in web applications.
Once vulnerabilities have been identified, these tools are used to exploit them and gain unauthorized access to systems and networks.
- Metasploit: Framework for developing and executing exploits against a remote system.
- BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework): Framework for testing browser security.
- SQLmap: Automated SQL injection tool.
4. Post-Exploitation Tools
After a vulnerability has been exploited, these tools help maintain access and further explore the compromised system.
- Empire: Post-exploit framework for Windows and Unix.
- PowerShell Empire: Post-exploitation tool for Windows systems.
These tools are used to carry out attacks that manipulate users into divulging confidential information or performing insecure actions.
- Social-Engineer Toolkit (SET): Framework for social engineering testing.
- GoPhish: Phishing platform for security awareness testing.
These tools focus on interception, analysis and exploitation of data traveling through the network.
- Wireshark: Network packet analyzer.
- Aircrack-ng: Suite of tools for assessing the security of WiFi networks.
- Ettercap: Tool for man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.
- Hydra: Tool for brute force authentication of network services.
These tools are specifically designed to test the security of web applications, identifying and exploiting common web vulnerabilities.
- Burp Suite: Platform for web application security testing.
- OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy): Web application penetration testing tool.
- DIRB: Tool for scanning directories and files on web servers.
- Uniscan: Web application vulnerability scanner.
These tools are used to recover passwords using brute force techniques, dictionaries, or other attack methods.
- John the Ripper: Password recovery tool.
- Hashcat: GPU-based password cracking tool.
These tools focus on mobile application security, allowing pentesters to identify vulnerabilities in applications for mobile devices.
- MobSF (Mobile Security Framework): Framework for mobile application security analysis.
- Drozer: Android application security analysis tool.
10. Environments and Operating Systems for Pentesting
These operating systems are preconfigured with a wide range of pentesting tools and provide a convenient, centralized environment for pentesters.
- Kali Linux: Linux-based operating system, specially designed for pentesting.
- Parrot Security OS: Another Linux distribution focused on security and pentesting.
These tools are designed to assess the security of cloud infrastructures and applications.
- Amazon Inspector: An Amazon Web Services service for assessing the security of applications deployed on AWS.
- Intruder: A cloud vulnerability scanning platform, ideal for assessing the security of web infrastructures and applications.
These additional tools enrich the set of resources available to pentesters, providing advanced and specialized capabilities for various areas of cybersecurity.