Penetration testing is the practice of examining security vulnerabilities in programs in order to determine if attackers can exploit them and compromise the systems.
In general, this assists researchers, developers, and security professionals in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities that could allow malicious actors to attack or compromise the application or other IT resources.
In practice, penetration testing entails running a series of security tests or evaluations on servers, networks, websites, web apps, and so on. While this varies depending on the system and testing purpose, a common approach involves the following steps:
- Potential vulnerabilities and flaws that attackers may exploit are listed below.
- Prioritize or order the list of vulnerabilities to evaluate the possible attack’s criticality, effect, or severity.
- Perform penetration testing from within and outside your network or environment to see whether you can exploit a specific vulnerability to get unauthorized access to a network, server, website, data, or another resource.
- If you are able to get unauthorized access to the system, the resource is insecure and must be addressed. After resolving the issue, run another test and repeat until there is no longer a problem.
Penetration testing and vulnerability testing are not the same things.
While vulnerability testing is used to discover potential security issues, penetration testing is used to find and exploit holes, determining whether or not a system can be attacked. Penetration testing should ideally reveal key security weaknesses and offer a chance to repair them before hackers discover and exploit them.
There are various commercial and free penetration testing tools available to help you determine if your system is secure. A list of the finest free penetration testing tools is provided below to assist you in selecting the best option.
1- ZOFixer
For online security testers, ZOFIXER.com is the ideal scanner. It may be used to automate repetitive testing tasks before diving deeper with its expert-designed manual and semi-automated security testing capabilities. ZOFIXER can help you test for the OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities as well as cutting-edge hacking techniques.
Key features
- Automated Penetration Testing
- Up to 2 Targets
- Unlimited Ad Hoc Scans
- Use effective tools and scripts for offensive security activities, reconnaissance, and find vulnerabilities
- 2 Scheduled Monthly Scan
- Small Business Scope
- Continuous Security Monitoring
- Simple Reporting
2- Sifter
Sifter is a potent combination of numerous penetration testing tools. It consists of OSINT and information collecting technologies, as well as vulnerability detection modules. The Sifter integrates numerous modules into a single complete penetration testing suite that can swiftly search for vulnerabilities, conduct recon activities, enumerate local and remote hosts, verify firewalls, and much more.
Key Features
- Sifter is a collection of 35 tools that can scan webpages, networks, and online applications.
- Maps the assault surface using Attack Surface Management (ASM).
- Has an exploitation tool for exploiting discovered vulnerabilities ethically
Capabilities for the advanced information collecting - The program is compatible with Ubuntu, Linux, Windows, Parrot, Kali Linux, and other operating systems.
- As a result of the vast number of penetration testing modules, the system is very scalable and configurable.
3- sqlmap
The sqlmap is one of the most effective open-source tools for testing and identifying SQL injection vulnerabilities in databases.
The tools automate the detection and exploitation of vulnerabilities that might lead to SQL injection, database server takeover, and so on. It also supports a number of switches, such as over data fetching from the database, database fingerprinting, and utilizing out-of-band connections to execute instructions on the operating system, access the underlying file system, and so on.
4- Nmap
Nmap is a network discovery and security auditing tool. The sophisticated, feature-rich open-source application assists administrators in doing network inventory, monitoring service uptime, and managing upgrade plans, among other things.
The Nmap utility searches the network for hosts, operating systems, and active services using IP packets. Other metrics identified by the program include the firewalls or filters in use, among others.
Key Features
- Solution with a high degree of adaptability that supports a wide range of approaches
- It employs TCP and UDP scanning methods, as well as version detection, operating system detection, ping swipes, and other features.
- Because it is powerful and scalable, it is appropriate for all networks, including big systems with thousands of devices.
- The program is simple to install and use, and it is available in both command line and GUI versions, making it suited for both novice and experienced testers.
- Multiplatform support solution that works with the majority of common operating systems, including,
- A tool for comparing scan results, a packet generator, and a response analysis tool.
5- Dirsearch
Dirsearch is a web path scanning command-line program.
You may use the feature-rich tool to brute force webserver directories and files. In general, it enables developers, security researchers, and administrators to accurately investigate a wide variety of general and complicated online information. The penetration testing tool offers remarkable speed and contemporary brute force techniques thanks to a large variety of wordlist vectors.
Key features
- Detect or locate hidden and unhidden online directories, faulty web pages, and so on.
- Attempt to brute force webserver directories and files
- As a result of multi-threading, scanning speed is increased.
- The ability to save the output in many forms such as basic, CSV, markdown, JSON, XML, plain, and so on.
- Because it is compatible with Linux, Mac, and Windows, it is suitable for a wide range of platforms.
6- Metasploit
Metasploit is a sophisticated and adaptable tool that assists testers in identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities. Using a closed-loop vulnerability validation, the tool allows you to prioritize while presenting potential dangers.
Furthermore, the feature-rich tool enables you to do a wide variety of tests, from scanning and building payloads to running attacks and assessing security awareness using simulated phishing emails.
Key features
- It includes a discovery scanner for scanning TCP ports on the target device. Scanning provides visibility into the services running on a network and identifies open ports and vulnerabilities that may be exploited.
- Errors in configuration and vulnerability vulnerabilities and possible attack paths using a scanner
- Exploitation of discovered vulnerabilities, whether automated or human.
- Allows you to get access to the target by utilizing password assault tactics like brute force or reusing credentials.
- It runs on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux and is available in command line and graphical user interface (GUI) versions.
7- w3af
The open-source web application security scanner w3af (Web Application Attack and Audit Framework) The project offers a vulnerability analyzer as well as an exploitation tool for Web applications. It delivers security vulnerability information for use in penetration testing engagements. The scanner has both a graphical and a command-line interface.
The core and plug-ins are the two primary components of w3af. The core manages the process and offers features that are used by the plug-ins, which discover and exploit vulnerabilities. The plug-ins are linked and communicate with one another via a knowledge base.
8- Commix
Commix is a free and open-source tool for detecting and exploiting command injection vulnerabilities. The program automates defect discovery and exploitation, enhancing speed, coverage, and efficiency.
Commix, which stands for Command and injection and exploiter, is a powerful combination of a scanning tool and a command injection vulnerability exploiter.
