Top 25 Ethical Hacking Tools for Cybersecurity Professionals

In this era, there is a large amount of sensitive data that has been stored and shared across the world. Which means that every piece of data that has been stored and shared is vulnerable somewhere in the network. You’ll get to know the importance of cybersecurity if a hacker gets into that network and steals all your sensitive data. To prevent all the cyberattacks and threats, you need to know the precautionary steps. In this article, you will learn about cybersecurity and the tools of ethical hacking to prevent any attacks. 

Table of Contents:

• What Do You Mean By Cybersecurity?
• What is Ethical Hacking?
• Top 25 Ethical Hacking Tools for Cybersecurity Professionals
• Conclusion

What Do You Mean By Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is the practice of securing systems, networks, and data from cyberattacks. The attacks may lead to gaining access to, misusing, deleting, or altering sensitive information. That might compromise the privacy and security of the user. Most of the cybersecurity attacks are happening to extort money from users or organisations. Cybersecurity consists of a large number of tools, practices, and technologies to protect the environment from malicious threats like ransomware, phishing, malware, DOS, and SQL injection attacks. In this article, we will learn about ethical hacking and the tools that are used by ethical hackers. 

What is Ethical Hacking?

In cybersecurity, hacking can be divided into 3 major types: Grey-hat hacking, White-hat hacking, and Black-hat hacking. In Grey-hat hacking, the hackers hack the system, exploit the vulnerabilities, let the company know about their vulnerabilities, and may offer help to the company to fix the issues. In White-hat hacking, the hacker will use their skills to help protect the organization’s networks by planning and analyzing the vulnerabilities. In Black-hat hacking, the hacker will hack the system or organisation purely with the malicious intent to exploit the system’s security wall. 

The white-hat hacker, or ethical hacker, is the person who is authorised to get into the system by hacking for the purpose of knowing the system’s vulnerability. These hackers will get permission from the organisation to check for any breaches or threats in the system. Now, we will see the tools that are used by cybersecurity professionals. 

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Top 25 Ethical Hacking Tools for Cybersecurity Professionals

Some tools used by cybersecurity professionals legally to protect and secure the organisation’s network are listed below:  

1. Wireshark

Wireshark is a tool that is used for analysing network protocols that capture the packets and display them with the time for log purposes. This can be used when you want to analyse the network logs that can be used to troubleshoot and detect unknown entries. 

Pros:

• Wireshark can deeply analyse the network and inspect more than a hundred network protocols. 
• It is cost-effective and has frequent updates that can be customised through plugins based on requirements. 

Cons:

• If you are a beginner, you may feel overwhelmed by the number of network packets Wireshark captures. It may feel complex when you don’t have networking knowledge.
• Wireshark cannot decrypt HTTPS or any encrypted protocols without a key. This will limit monitoring of the secured connections. 

2. Nmap

Nmap is abbreviated as Network Mapper, which is used to find devices and services in a network. It gathers all the information like open ports, Operating Systems, and also the active hosts present in the network. 

Pros:

• With the help of its NSE (Nmap Scripting Engine), Nmap can perform limited vulnerability detection.
• Admins and pentesters can use this tool to identify the live hosts, open ports, and services for efficient results.

Cons:

• Nmap can be detected easily by IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems) or any firewalls, making it harder for secret operations. 
• Although a graphical interface (Zenmap) exists, most users rely on the command line, which can be challenging for beginners. 

3. Metasploit Framework

The red-team hackers use the Metasploit framework, or penetration testing framework, to test the system’s vulnerability and also create exploits. These things will help the security professionals work faster. 

Pros

• It is an open source tool that will give a large number of exploits, payloads, and modules for testing vulnerabilities.
• Metasploit can work with other tools like Nmap and Nessus for vulnerability scanning and exploit development.

Cons

• Metasploit is an open-source tool, therefore, attackers can easily access the tool and misuse it. 
• Checking for payloads and techniques requires high knowledge about systems and networks.

4. Burp Suite

Burp Suite is a security testing web application tool. This tool provides vulnerability scanning and acts as a proxy to intercept and analyse requests between the client and server during authorised security testing, which is a server between the client and the internet that will send requests to the internet without the client’s knowledge. 

Pros

• The Burp Suite will detect vulnerabilities like XSS, SQL injection, XXE injection, broken authentication, and more. 
• This will give detailed information and reports of web traffic manipulation. With the help of the Burp Extender API and BApp Store professional extensions, you can increase the functionality.

Cons

• Burp Suite has paid version tools. Some tools may not work in free versions, like intruder enhancement and automation features.
• Its Graphical User Interface may not be suitable for beginners, as it has many panels and drop-downs that may confuse beginners.

5. Nessus

To find weaknesses in systems, networks, or software, you can use the Nessus tool. It is a vulnerability scanner tool. 

Pros

• Nessus provides perfect analytical results of vulnerabilities and threats, as it is always updated from time to time based on the latest trends. 
• Nessus can scan thousands of known vulnerabilities in any operating system, network, and application. 

Cons

• Nessus has a paid version. Only in the paid version we can use the features like scheduling, custom policies, and enterprise support. But there is a free version called Nessus Essentials with minimal features to use. 
• Sometimes, when scanning thousands of vulnerabilities, Nessus may interpret flags as a threat, so it requires a manual verification to confirm it.

6. Kali Linux

Kali Linux is the most famous tool used by hackers or testers. It has hundreds of built-in penetration testing tools. Kali is a Linux-based system used in ethical hacking. 

Pros

• Kali Linux has hundreds of preinstalled tools for penetration testing, digital forensics, and reverse engineering. 
• Kali is a customised tool for documenting and is used in specific cases or hardware. 

Cons

• It has been fully optimised for specific security tasks, and hence, it cannot be used regularly, as it may experience lag in stability. 
• You have to be fully aware of Kali packages and commands and their file system management before using them.

7. Aircrack-ng

Aircrack-ng is a tool used for Wi-Fi network security. It is mainly used for accessing, monitoring, and cracking WiFi passwords. 

Pros

• This tool can be used in a secure environment to test and crack WiFi encryption keys and passwords. 
• It can process large files and can run efficiently with simplicity and greater performance. 

Cons

• It cannot be used in all wireless network cards. As some won’t support the monitor mode or packet injection, it is essential for full functionality. 
• Using Aircrack-ng without authorization is illegal and unethical. It should only be used in a controlled and authorised environment. 

8. John the Ripper

John the Ripper is a password-cracking tool that uses brute force and dictionary attacks to unlock or unveil the password.

Pros

• It cracks the hash algorithms like MD5, SHA, bcrypt, and also LM/NTLM, which are useful for auditing the password hashes. 
• It has a wide range of modes and wordlists, as it follows a dictionary attack and also a rule set for faster password cracking. 

Cons

• It doesn’t have a Graphical User Interface, which makes it harder to use command-line controls for beginners.
• This requires high usage of CPU/GPU. Because it follows intensive attacks like brute-force attacks and dictionary attacks. 

9. Hydra (THC-Hydra)

To crack login credentials in protocols like HTTP, FTP, and SSH, you can use Hydra, which uses a brute force attack to crack them. 

Pros

• It is a versatile protocol that uses brute force attacks on protocols like HTTP, FTP, SSH, SMB, and more.
• It processes login cracking very swiftly and can also run multiple attacks simultaneously. 

Cons

• It can be easily flagged or detected by the intrusion detection system and intrusion prevention system, making it difficult to crack the login without triggering it. 
• It cannot perform secret operations, as attempts can be logged and send an alert to the administrator. 

10. SQLmap

SQLMap is a tool for detecting and exploiting SQL injection attacks in a database. 

Pros

• SQLmap can detect SQL injection vulnerabilities with basic user inputs. It can perform tasks like database fingerprinting, data extraction, and can also access the file system. 
• It is adapted to multiple database systems like MySQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and Oracle. 

Cons

• Sometimes when we query, there will be some improper queries. That type of query will corrupt the data or delete it permanently. 
• SQLmap works on the command line, so you need to be knowledgeable about the queries, as it doesn’t have a graphical user interface. 

11. Nikto

Nikto is useful to scan older software in a system for configuration issues or any injected malicious files that are in the system or not. 

Pros

• Nikto is an easy-to-use tool that scans web servers swiftly, checking for any vulnerabilities with the help of a simple command-line interface. 
• With a simple setup, the Nikto tool can identify the older server software and also the malicious files in the system.

Cons

• Nikto will send many alerts that weren’t exactly alerts of vulnerabilities, so they need manual validation. 
• It can easily be detected by IDS and web server logs, making it difficult to access secretly. 

12. Social-Engineer Toolkit (SET)

SET – Social Engineer Toolkit, which is a penetration testing platform that is used to test attacks like phishing, email spoofing, credential cracking, etc. 

Pros

• This tool is very useful for testing human-based attacks like phishing and email spoofing.
• This tool can be used for educational purposes to teach people about social engineering methods to gain knowledge about the threats and attacks. 

Cons

• This tool should be used with proper guidance and in a controlled environment, as this tool will perform real attacks. 
• Even when you practice in a legal testing space, this tool may trigger antivirus alerts due to the scripts that were used.

13. OpenVAS

It is an open-source vulnerability scanner used to find security vulnerabilities. This tool has many features that can be used for large enterprise security testing. 

Pros

• It can detect thousands of known security vulnerabilities in systems and services.
• It’s free of cost and has all core features, and can be customised based on the needs. 

Cons

• It has a complex setup procedure; beginners may find it difficult after installation. 
• It is slower in performance and scanning than the Nessus tool. 

14. Acunetix

Acunetix is a web application tool used to scan for vulnerabilities like SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF. This tool is very useful as it can detect vulnerabilities before the attacker does. 

Pros

• It is faster in scanning, which is suitable for web scanning with fewer errors.
• Supports DevSecOps. It has a GUI that makes it easier for beginners to work on. 

Cons

• Acunetix is not a free tool. It is a paid tool used by individuals or small organisations. 
• It is a web application-based scanner, so it will not scan vulnerabilities on non-web or broader network vulnerability assessments. 

15. Ettercap

The Ettercap tool is used for man-in-the-middle attacks, and Ettercap is capable of performing MITM attacks and capturing packets across a LAN network. It always performs between the internet and networks, which makes it powerful in testing. 

Pros

• It can intercept traffic between devices and can modify any packets in real time, which makes it powerful for testing.
• It is useful for finding vulnerabilities in real time by allowing you to view and check the live networks and letting you edit if there is any threat.

Cons

• You need to carefully edit the live networks, as the ettercap lets you edit them, which may disrupt the flow of networks that may alter the network traffic. 
• It is not beginner-friendly as it highly requires networking knowledge, as you need to work on active networks. 

16. Hashcat

To crack a password or if you forget the system’s password, you can use hashcat to recover those passwords. This tool can easily crack complex hashes with the help of GPU acceleration. 

Pros

• It uses the GPU for acceleration to crack passwords, so it is much better than CPU-based cracking. 
• It can crack various hash types of algorithms like MD5, SHA1, bcrypt, NTLM, etc.

Cons

• You need to have a powerful, heavy-duty GPU card to run this tool smoothly. So it is not reliable on all the computers. 
• It will make your computer generate a lot of heat while performing, and it will consume more electricity for long operations.

17. Maltego

Maltego is an intelligent forensic tool used to map networks and domains visually. 

Pros

• It creates a graph that can map people, domains, IP addresses, social accounts, and more. This will help in investigating and make you understand the graph easily.
• It is used in OSINT investigations, like finding the connections of entities on the internet. 

Cons

• Maltego has a free version, but the paid version of Maltego has various integrations that will be faster and useful for professionals. 
• It has lots of interfaces and analysis processes, so it will be overwhelming at the beginning to learn. 

18. Netcat

Netcat is used for investigating network connections and is a tool for debugging. 

Pros

• Netcat needs minimal setup as it is a small, efficient tool that will work on any system.
• It is very efficient that it is used to test open ports, transferring files, and it can even set up basic remote shells.  

Cons

• The packets sent by the Netcat tool cannot be trusted, as it sends data as plain text and will compromise the security of the data. 
• It can be easily flagged by antivirus software as it can be misused, so it is treated as a threat. 

19. FTK (Forensic Toolkit)

FTK – Forensic Toolkit—is a digital forensic investigation toolkit that helps you recover any missing files and also helps you analyse data from the system. 

Pros

• The FTK tool can be used to recover any deleted files, emails, images or fragments from the device, which is very helpful in forensic investigations. 
• It provides detailed logs or reports that can be used as evidence in court for cases that need cyber evidence. 

Cons

• To use the FTK tool, you need to have proper legal documents. It is a commercial, paid tool that is not allowed for individuals or small communities. 
• It is highly complicated to use, so it needs proper training to use the tool. So it is not good for beginners. 

20. Autopsy

Autopsy is an open-source tool used in digital forensics to analyse disks. 

Pros

• Autopsy has an intuitive GUI that supports plugins, which makes it easier to use for investigative needs. 
• It is a free tool that gives easy access to students to learn about the autopsy tool.

Cons

• It is not as powerful as the FTK tool, as it may lack some advanced features like automation and scalability.  
• It cannot handle large datasets; it will become slow or unstable while scanning. 

21. RouterKeygen

The RouterKeygen is used to recover WiFi passwords by trying passwords based on a dictionary (which tries common passwords by following the key patterns).

Pros

• It is a very simple interface that will check if the router has default passwords. 
• It will support different router models that help to check the default firmware. 

Cons

• This practice is unethical, and it is not legal for everyone’s use. 
• Nowadays, modern routers are built with random keys and have high-security firmware, so the routerkeygen will not be supported. 

22. Angry IP Scanner

The Angry IP scanner is used to scan IP addresses, and the Port scanner to detect live hosts and open ports on a network. 

Pros

• It can scan a large number of IP addresses with the help of a clean interface. 
• It can efficiently work on Windows, macOS, and Linux. 

Cons

• It has only basic scanning, and it doesn’t support advanced scanning and reporting. 
• It can easily be detected, so it cannot be used for secret operations. 

23. NetStumbler

It is used to detect wireless networks that can be used for WiFi troubleshooting, and will also map the incoming and outgoing signals efficiently, as it is a Windows tool.

Pros

• It can easily access signal access points and also check the signal strength of the WiFi. 
• It can be efficiently used when you want to map live wireless motion. 

Cons

• It won’t support modern Windows operating systems. It can only support older versions of Windows, that too, only up to Windows XP. 
• It sends out the request whenever it maps the network, so it can be easily detected, which is not good for stealth operations.

24. Cain and Abel

The Cain and Abel tool is useful for password recovery with the help of network sniffing and encrypted password cracking by using brute force or dictionary attacks. 

Pros

• It has multiple password recovery methods that support password cracking, sniffing, and ARP poisoning. 
• It has the efficiency of analysing local network traffic (LAN) to know the credentials. 

Cons

• It can be detected as a malware threat by an antivirus.
• The tool is not updated frequently, so it does not work on modern versions of systems.

25. Invicti (formerly known as Netsparker)

The Invicti tool is a web application security scanner that is used to detect vulnerabilities in web like SQL injection and XSS. 

Pros

• It provides a high accuracy rate of scanning that reduces any false alarms.
• It accumulates CI/CD integration that can easily let you work in a DevOps pipeline for scanning. 

Cons

• It is developed for a larger level of scanning, so it is not suitable for individuals. 
• It will only scan the web, so it is not used to other layers of infrastructure. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, ethical hacking tools play an important role in cybersecurity and are used to identify vulnerabilities before any attackers find them and exploit the network. These tools can be used from packet analysers like Wireshark to password crackers like John the Ripper. Different tools play different roles in terms of securing the network. Many of the tools are open-source and beginner-friendly, and some are paid versions with more complex features that only professionals can handle. You have learnt about these tools; use them wisely and ethically. 

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Top 25 Ethical Hacking Tools for Cybersecurity Professionals – FAQs