Top 10 Kali Linux Tools for Hacking

Kali Linux is a Debian-based Linux distribution that is maintained by offensive security. Kali Linux was developed by Mati Aharoni and Devon Kearns. It is a specially built operating system for network analysts, penetration testers, and others who work in the field of cybersecurity and analysis.

Kali Linux's official website is Kali.org. It became well-known after appearing in the Mr. Robot television series. It is not intended for public usage; rather, it is intended for professionals or individuals familiar with Linux/Kali.

When performing penetration testing or hacking, we may need to automate our operations because there may be hundreds of conditions and payloads to test, and testing them manually is tedious. To save time, we use tools that come pre-installed with Kali Linux. These tools not only save our time but also capture reliable data and output precise results. More than 350 tools are included in Kali Linux, which can be used for hacking or penetration testing.

The following is the list of the top 10 Kali Linux tools for hacking:

1. Burp Suite

One of the most widely used web application security testing tools is Burp Suite. It is utilized as a proxy, which means all requests from the proxy's browser pass via it. And, because the request runs through the burp suite, we can make changes to it as needed, which is useful for testing vulnerabilities such as XSS and SQLi, and other web-related issues.

Burp suite community edition is free with Kali Linux, but there is a premium version called burp suite professional that has many more features than the free version.

To Use Burpsuite:

We have to use the following steps in order to use burpsuite:

• First, we have to learn how to setup a burp suite.
• Then we have to the open terminal and type "burpsuite"
• Go to the Proxy tab and turn the interceptor switch on.
• Now visit any URL, and it can be seen that the request has been captured.

2. Nmap

Nmap is an open-source network scanner for reconfiguring and scanning networks. It is used to find ports, hosts, and services along with their versions over a network. It sends packets to the host and then examines the responses to get the intended outcomes. It might also be used to discover hosts, detect operating systems, and scan for open ports. It is one of the most widely used reconnaissance tools.

To Use Nmap:

We have to use the following steps in order to use nmap:

• First, we have to ping the host using the ping command in order to get the IP address

• Then we have to open the terminal and then enter the below command

• Replace the IP address with the IP address of the host we need to scan.
• It will show all the captured details of the host.

3. Wireshark

Wireshark is a network security tool that analyses and manipulates data transferred across a network. It is used to examine packets sent across a network. The source and destination IP addresses, the protocol used, the data, and the various headers may all be included in these packets. The packets usually have a ".pcap" extension and can be read using the Wireshark tool.

To Use Wireshark:

We have to use the following steps to use Wireshark:

• First, we have to open the Wireshark and download a demo pcap
• Then we have to press "ctrl+o" in order to open a pcap file in Wireshark.
• It can be observed that it shows the list of packets and their headers.
  

4. Metasploit Framework

Metasploit is an open-source tool that was developed by Rapid7 technologies. It is one of the most widely used penetration testing frameworks globally. It includes a large number of exploits for exploiting the vulnerabilities over a network or operating system. Metasploit is often used on local networks; however, we may utilize Metasploit for hosts over the internet using "port forwarding". Metasploit is primarily a command-line tool, but it also includes a graphical user interface (GUI) package called "Armitage" that makes using the Metasploit more convenient and feasible.

To Use Metasploit:

We have to use the following steps in order to use Metasploit:

• Metasploit comes pre-installed with Kali Linux.
• We have to enter the "msfconsole" on the terminal.
  

5. aircrack-ng

Aircrack is an all-in-one packet sniffer, WEP, and WPA/WPA cracker, analyzing tool and a hash capturing tool. It is a tool that is mainly used to hack WIFI. Using this, we can capture the package, and read the hashes out of them as well as the cracking of those hashes by various attacks such as dictionary attacks. It supports almost all modern wireless interfaces.

To Use aircrack-ng:

We have to use the following steps to use aircrack-ng:

• In Kali Linux, aircrack-ng is already pre-compiled.
• In order to use it, simply type aircrack-ng into the terminal.
  

6. Netcat

Netcat is a network tool for working with ports and performs tasks such as port scanning, listening, and redirection. This command is useful for debugging and testing network daemons. This tool is known as the Swiss army knife of networking tools. It could also be used to perform TCP, UDP, or UNIX-domain sockets or to open remote connections, and much more.

7. John the Ripper

John the Ripper is a fantastic tool for cracking passwords utilizing well-known brute-force attacks such as dictionary attacks, or custom wordlist attacks, etc. It can also be used to crack hashes or passwords for zipped or compressed files and locked files. It includes a lot of options for cracking hashes and passwords.

To Use John the Ripper:

We have to use the following steps in order to use Ripper:

• In kali Linux, john the Ripper comes pre-installed.
• To use the tool, simply type "john" on the terminal.
  

8. sqlmap

One of the greatest tools for performing SQL injection attacks is sqlmap. It simply automates the process of testing a parameter for SQL injection, as well as the process of exploiting the vulnerable parameter.

It is a fantastic tool because it automatically detects the database, so all we have to do is provide a URL to see if the parameter in the URL is vulnerable. We could even utilize the requested file to check for POST arguments.

To Use sqlmap Tool:

We have to use the following steps in order to use sqlmap:

• Sqlmap comes pre-installed in Kali Linux.
• To use this tool, we have to simply type "sqlmap" on the terminal.
  

9. Autopsy

An autopsy is a digital forensics tool that collects data from forensics. Or in other words, we used this tool to investigate files or logs to see what exactly was done with the system. It may also be used to recover files from a memory card or a pen drive.

To Use Autopsy Tool

We have to use the following steps in order to use sqlmap:

• In kali Linux, Autopsy comes pre-install.
• We have to just type "autopsy" on the terminal.
• Now, to use this tool, we have to visit http://localhost:9999/autopsy.
  

10. Social Engineering Toolkit

The Social Engineering Toolkit is a set of tools which we can use to perform social engineering attacks. These tools gather information by exploiting and manipulating human behavior. It is also a fantastic tool for phishing websites. It is an open-source penetration testing framework designed for social engineering. SET includes a number of unique attack vectors that permit us to launch a convincing attack in a matter of seconds.

To Use Social Engineering Toolkit:

In order to use Social Engineering Toolkit, we have to use the following steps:

• In Kali Linux, the social engineering toolkit comes pre-installed.
• All we need to do is type "setoolkit" on the terminal.
• Next, we have to agree to the terms and conditions in order to start using the social engineering toolkit.