Hacking is not only used for malicious activity; it can also be used to identify potential threats in the network or on the computer. When this happens, it is known as ethical hacking. Ethical hacking is also known as penetration testing, intrusion testing, and red teaming. Hacking is one of the most common methods for gaining access to a computer system with the intention of causing fraud, penetration of data and invasion of the user’s privacy, and more. Nowadays, there are more incidents of cyber attacks compared to ten years ago. Therefore, we need to know how hacking tools work and what information they can obtain if they can breach our computer’s security system.
In this article, we are going to discuss the top 7 hacking tools that you must know in 2022. Besides, we will explain how these hacking tools can be used to your advantage and keep your system secured from online attacks. So let’s begin.
1. Acunetix
Let’s start with the most obvious choice of ethical hackers, and that is Acunetix. It is considered to be the most powerful ethical hacking tool that could detect and report on over 4500 web application vulnerabilities, including all the different variants of SQL Injection and XSS. In addition, you can even modify your vulnerability checks and use them for scanning the ever-growing threats that are present in the web application. Moreover, the speed at which Acunetic checks out the issues present in your computer and network is unbeatable.
You can also schedule daily, weekly, and monthly scans depending on how vulnerable your system is and what type of work you do on the computer. It comes with the ability to send different types of reports to various party members. So, specific information is sent to the user who doesn’t have a clearance to access essential statistics and data. As a result, you can send board-level reports to the CEO of the company and the developer-level report to one of the team leads. This can come quite handy as it tailors out the content specifically for the audience that is going to receive the report.
The reporting is pretty insightful, and it is easy to use. A person who is using it for the first time can quickly get acquainted with its working and perform complex penetration testing with ease. Lastly, with the continuous scanning option, you will be vigilant enough to take the necessary precautions, so your computer is safe from the latest attacks from hackers.
2. Network Mapper (Nmap)
Nmap is used for performing port scanning, and it is one of the crucial parts of ethical hacking. Nmap is considered to be the finest tool that can be used by an ethical hacker to get things done from their end. It is more of a command-line tool, and it was developed for operating systems based on Linux or Unix. You can also use it with Windows OS, but till now, there has been no official release for macOS by the developers. There are multiple features that allow users to probe computer networks and host discovery along with the detection of the operating systems. Due to the presence of script extensible, you can get a much better vulnerability detection, and it can also adapt to network conditions like congestion present in the network and the latency that occurs when you are scanning a massive file.
Furthermore, Nmap is entirely free to use because it is an open-source tool that is used for vulnerability checking, port scanning, and network mapping. Even though it was created in 1997, it is still working and providing valuable insights to the users about the issues that might be present in their systems. On the other hand, one of the advantages of using Nmap is to be a part of a much larger community of developers and coders who helps in keeping the Nmap working and detecting the latest vulnerabilities.
Because of its open-source abilities, the source code of the tool is present on the Internet for users to see. You can make changes to it and make it work according to your requirements. There are various distributions present for Nmap that are specifically designed to work with Windows and Linux operating systems. Nmap also comes with support for less known operating systems like Solaris, AIX, AmigaOS, and more. Lastly, the source code of Nmap is available in C, C++, Perl, and Python.
3. Netsparker
Netsparker is one of the leading web applications that provides security solutions to users. It will automatically scan your custom web-based applications for the Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and other forms of the latest vulnerabilities that hackers are taking advantage of. It comes with a unique feature of Proof-based Scanning that automatically exploits the vulnerabilities on its own and then generates a proof of exploit to prove they are not false positives.
People who are using Netsparker can use it for Chrome-based crawling to find various issues that hide in the web applications such as Web 2.0, HTML5, and single-page applications. Due to the presence of a proof-based scanning module, a company can scan their web application which is built using various programming languages such as NET PHP, C++, Java, and more. It will notify the user when the scan can detect a vulnerability present in the system.
Moreover, you can use it to scan passwords and usernames to password-protected websites by submitting the credentials. Thus, it helps in the elimination of creating a black box scanner. The main advantage of using Netsparker is its dead accurate proof-based scanning. The independent benchmark results have shown how amazing Netsparker is when it comes to finding out the vulnerabilities in a system in comparison to competitive products developed by other companies. On the other hand, the security team that you have hired doesn’t need to spend countless hours configuring the scanner and verifying the results that came out of it. That’s because, with the implementation of pre and post-scan automation, you can quickly scan and seamlessly add or scan new websites or applications at your will.
4. Nikto
Nikto is another open-source tool that was developed using Perl language, and it is used for scanning web servers to find vulnerabilities present inside it that could lead to exploitation or compromise of the server. Also, it comes with the ability to scan for the outdated version details of 1200 servers, and it can also detect problems with a specific version of more than 200 servers. With the help of Nikto, a user can create a fingerprint server via favicon.ico files that are present in the server.
The feature which sets Nikto apart from other hacking tools is that it was designed keeping in mind the time efficiency that you will require to achieve in a minimal time. As a result, most web admins prefer using it to detect problems with their server. You can also ask this tool to provide you with a list of items that do not have any form of security problem.
You can even add functionality that will automatically launch Nikto from Nessus when the system finds out about a web server. The two hacking tools, Nessus and Nikto, work amazingly well with each other, and you can find tons of blogs, videos, and tutorials online to get the benefit of their collaboration for your server. Nikto runs on top of LibWhisker2, and that gives it excellent capabilities for web application scanning. The developers of Nikto Cirt.net can maintain plugin databases that were released under the GPL, and you can access them on their site. Nikto has evolved over the years, and now it offers several options to have customized scans. Moreover, you can use it for evading detection by an IDS.
5. Invicti
It is an easy-to-use web application security scanner, and it can help users find SQL injection, XSS, and other vulnerabilities in your web application and web services as well. You can use Invicti on-premises and SAAS solutions. The main advantage of using Invicti is that it will scan the URL of websites to detect potential security holes that could easily be exploited by hackers if you are not careful in closing them. Invicti is also able to find out the issues that are present in your modern applications, even if your applications have various forms of architecture or even the platform on which the applications are built. Once it finds out the exploit, it will provide proof to verify that the scan it did was not a false positive.
Some of the most amazing features of Invicti is that the company behind its development can help people with the onboarding process and give them the necessary training so they can take the benefit of this security application to its optimal usage. Likewise, the user interface is pretty simple, and in just a few days of use, you will be able to memorize where each function is present. It can integrate with JIRA, Bugzilla, and GitHub. Moreover, it automatically scans the password-protected areas and allows users to build personalized security reports that use its custom reports API. You can opt for an unlimited scanning model and unlimited user model as well.
6. Intruder
This is a fully automatic scanner that can find cybersecurity vulnerabilities in your digital estate. It will explain the risks and help users with their resolution. That makes it a perfect addition for anyone who is into ethical hacking. The Intruder comes with 9,000 different forms of security checks, which makes it an excellent product for enterprise-level vulnerability scanning. The security checks of Intruder include misconfigurations, missing patches, common web application errors, issues like SQL injection along with cross-site scripting, and many more.
The developers behind Intruder are experienced security professionals who know all the ins and outs that hackers try to take advantage of. Intruder takes care of much of the hassle that goes into finding and managing the vulnerability once it gets detected. The thing is, modern attackers are not waiting for you to act first and secure your system. They are always one step ahead of you when it comes to finding out new vulnerabilities present in your system, application, or website.
It might come as a surprise to you, but every single day, more than 20 new vulnerabilities are being discovered. With its automatic vulnerability scanner, you can work on other things while it deals with issues that could harm your application and work. Companies that have their own network range know how hard it is to manage the whole network. You want to make sure that the entire range of your network is getting protection from the security scanner that you are using. But when it comes to licensing a vast number of inactive IPs, the payable amount just skyrocketed. In that case, Intruder’s built-in “Smart Recon” is a feature that allows you to monitor your external network ranges for the active IPs and will make sure that you only pay for those that are active and running.
7. Nessus
The next ethical hacking tool that we have on our list is Nessus, and it is said that Nessus is the world’s most well-known vulnerability scanner to this date. The developers of Nessus are experienced in cyber security as they deal in providing the best security features, tools, and other forms of products to keep their clients safe from online hackers. This is one of the most powerful and easy-to-use vulnerability scanners that you can get your hands on. You can fix a scheduled scanning and get the report.
Besides, the reports could be standard as well as a custom that can be pretty helpful when it comes to showing it in the presentation. Not only this, with the scanning, you are also getting the information of the required patch that you must install in your software to eradicate the vulnerability present in it. To get the best of the scanning results using Nessus, you should be using the latest plugins of the scanner at all costs.
The software is available for free. As a result, we can see why this software is so successful even though the company does not invest too much in its marketing. Furthermore, it has more than 2 million downloads now, and that shows its longevity in the field of vulnerability scanners. Due to its free availability, the software has been tested comprehensively in real-world situations. As a result, Nessus gets a very high success rate when it comes to accuracy. The free version of this software allows users to test their systems and give users the familiarity of using it, so they can go ahead and buy the paid version when they want the software to tackle the vulnerability on its own.
There are three software versions present for Nessus, and the first one is Nessus Essentials which is entirely free of cost. The second is Nessus Professional, which is a paid version with an annual subscription. Tenable.io is basically the cloud-based software version of Nessus Pro, and it comes with an advanced support package. The payment structure is also a bit different from its on-premises version, which is Nessus professional. The base price of Tenable.io starts with the 65 nodes, but with the increase in the number of nodes, the price also increases.
Conclusion
These were some of the best hacking tools that you can find today on the Internet to protect yourself from online attacks. These hacking tools can be installed on your computer to scan the web applications that you are using to find if they have any form of vulnerabilities that could potentially lead to a data breach.
Use these hacking tools and get yourself protected; if there is anything you want to ask us to, feel free to put it down in the comment section. We will get back to you with the necessary answer. Till then, stay safe, stay vigilant, and happy browsing.