19 Powerful Penetration Testing Tools Used by Pros in 2022

Penetration testing, also known as “pen testing,” is the act of attempting to exploit a system or network’s vulnerabilities. It’s possible to manually manipulate or utilize automated tools to manage this sort of data.

In this post, we will take a look at 19 powerful penetration testing tools that are currently being used by professionals. We will also discuss why penetration testing is so important and how it can help your business stay safe online!

19 Powerful Penetration Testing Tools Used By Pros In 2022

1. Astra Pentest: Astra Pentest is a commercial vulnerability management and penetration testing tool offered by the company Astra Security. The tool offers a comprehensive pentesting solution that enables you to test your applications and complex networks for vulnerabilities. It includes both automated and manual testing capabilities, covering a wide range of security issues including OWASP, SANS25, and more.
2. Nmap: nmap is an open-source network exploring and security auditing tool. It might be used to find hosts and services, as well as security problems, on a network.
3. Metasploit Framework: The Metasploit Framework is a free and open-source penetration testing platform built on the Python programming language. It provides users with a wealth of features for performing vulnerability scans, exploits development, and reconnaissance tasks.
4. Burp Suite: Burp Suite is a web application security testing software that combines the Burp Extension, Metachat, and Proxy Charles proxies with additional modules. It includes various tools for attacking applications, such as spidering, scanning, proxy interception, and fuzzing.
5. John the Ripper: John the Ripper is an open-source password cracking program that is free. It supports various types of dictionaries, brute force attacks on passwords, and many other features useful to pen-testers.
6. Nikto: Nikto is an open-source web server scanner that performs a variety of checks on web servers for a number of things, including dangerous CGI scripts, out-of-date server versions, and index files without directory listings enabled.
7. Wireshark: Wireshark is a free software network protocol analyzer that captures packets in real-time or offline mode with no restrictions on size or capture duration (up to four hours). Its main purpose is security auditing which makes it perfect if you need something versatile enough to handle lots of different protocols but still provide detailed analysis capabilities at every level from packet decoding all the way through network layer traffic analysis.
8. Aircrack-ng: Aircrack-ng is a free and open-source tool for wireless network security auditing. It can recover WEP/WPA keys, perform man-in-the-middle attacks on 802.11n networks, and more.
9. OpenVAS: OpenVAS (formerly known as GNessus) is an open-source vulnerability scanner that checks systems for potential vulnerabilities by running various tests against them – such as password guessing or brute force cracking attempts etcetera with some other features like port scanning capabilities included too so you have everything needed right out of the box to start using this software immediately without needing third party additions – but what really makes it stand out from other similar products available today is its ability to do real-time vulnerability assessment.
10. Kismet: Kismet is a free and open-source wireless network discovery tool that can be used for wardriving, monitoring networks, sniffing packets in promiscuous mode on 802.11b (WiFi) systems, detecting hidden APs, or even tracking down rogue access points using signal strength analysis techniques among many others! It’s one of the most popular tools around because it has all these features built right into one easy-to-use interface so whether your job requires scanning large areas looking at different types of data collected throughout those scans such as information leakage and weak passwords or trying to track down a specific device on the network – Kismet will most likely be your closest companion.
11. Maltego: Maltego is an open-source intelligence and forensics application that can be used for data mining, link analysis, and pattern recognition. It allows users to gather information about individuals, companies, websites, and other entities from a variety of online sources.
12. Sqlmap: Sqlmap is a free and open-source penetration testing tool for detecting and attacking SQL injection flaws in web applications. It has a vast number of features including detection of database servers, user enumeration, fetching data from databases, retrieving column values from tables, and running custom SQL commands.
13. OWASP ZAP: ZAP is a freely available and open-source web application security testing software that may be utilized to find vulnerabilities in online applications. It includes features for spidering websites, detecting vulnerabilities, and performing attacks.
14. Wapiti: Wapiti is a free software program designed by Jean Georges Perrin as part of his research work with computers at INSA Lyon University (France) where he studied Computer Science Engineering degree course which led him into designing this piece today known today as WAPITI (Wapiti-Analyser Program for Internet Threats) – an advanced web application security scanner written in Python.
15. Vega: The Vega test platform is a free, open-source web application testing solution. It may be used to identify vulnerabilities including XSS, SQL injection, and CSRF in websites.
16. Cobalt Strike: Cobalt Strike is a commercial tool that enables red teams to emulate real-world attacks on enterprise networks by performing penetration tests with adversary simulation techniques like spear-phishing campaigns or social engineering engagements at scale across multiple targets simultaneously via one simple interface.
17. Nessus: Nessus is a proprietary vulnerability management software owned by Tenable Network Security since 2005 when they acquired it from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Security Dynamics (now known as Tenable Network Security). Nessus is a popular vulnerability scanner with over 100,000 registered users and is one of the most widely used.
18. Retina CS: Retina CS is a commercial vulnerability management software offered by BeyondTrust. It enables organizations to identify vulnerabilities in their networks and systems, assess risk levels, and prioritize remediation efforts.
19. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer: Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) is a free Windows security scanner created by Microsoft that enables administrators to scan local and remote systems for missing security updates, incorrect system settings, and common security misconfigurations.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a comprehensive penetration testing solution that covers all the bases then look no further than the tools listed above – they are some of the best in the business and will more than likely serve you well for years to come. Happy testing!