Top 10 Cybersecurity Tools That You Should Know

This is the age of the internet! And at this age, it is very important to secure your data on the internet. After all, you wouldn’t want to give a hacker access to all your credit information on your Email? That is possible using phishing attempts. You also wouldn’t want anybody to be able to hack your social media accounts and post your pictures for all the world to see! This is also true for companies. They have even more important data to protect than just social media photos! Companies have their internal networks and confidential data that needs to be highly protected so that no hacker is able to access it. That’s where cybersecurity tools come in!

These Cybersecurity tools are becoming increasingly popular as they manage the security aspects of a company. They can find out if there are any vulnerabilities in the network like default passwords or if there are any suspicious files or folders that may contain viruses. They also check for phishing attempts in the Email and scan all the protocols in the network like IP, TCP, UDP, etc. Along with finding the vulnerabilities, cybersecurity tools also provide suggestions on how to remove these vulnerabilities. In this way, these cybersecurity tools can ensure that your data is secure on the internet and nobody is able to hack your companies network.

So let’s check out 10 of the most popular cybersecurity tools in 2020. Some of these tools are open source and free while others are provided at a monthly subscription fee by companies. You can see them and then decide on the one that is best for you or your company. Let’s get started!

1. Metasploit

Metasploit is a penetration testing framework built in conjugation with the open-source community and Rapid7, a security and DevOps company. This framework can be used by cybersecurity engineers to understand total security assessments, find vulnerabilities in the network, and improve the overall security. Metasploit is available in two versions, an open-source community Metasploit and Commercially supported Metasploit Pro with a monthly subscription. But even if you opt for the open-source version, there are a lot of detailed documents and videos to get you familiar with the framework.

2. Nikto

Nikto is an open-source vulnerability scanner that scans web servers to check that there aren’t any dangerous items like viruses and corrupted files or folders. It also checks if there are any outdated server components or any cookies received and handles them appropriately. Nikto is a very fast scanner but it doesn’t try to be discreet so it is visible in log files. One additional advantage is that you can save all the final reports generated by Nikto in any format that is convenient such as plain text, HTML, XML, CSV, etc.

3. Burp Suite

Burp Suite is a web vulnerability scanner that can check for different vulnerabilities across your network such as OS command injection, SQL injection, cleartext submission of password, etc. Burp Suite also contains a web application crawler that can analyze the applications and report on their volatile content. All the vulnerabilities found by Burp Scanner also contain a recommendation on how to resolve them so that the network is secure. Burp Suite is available as a community edition for free along with Enterprise and Professional paid versions.

4. Wireshark

Wireshark is a very famous network protocol analysis tool that allows you to understand what is going on in your network down to the last details. Wireshark can be used to inspect hundreds of different network protocols and provide a status report. It is also a packet browser and be used offline as well. Wireshark can read data from many technologies like Ethernet, Bluetooth, PPP/HDLC, IEEE 802.11, ATM, USB, etc. It can be used on different operating systems like Windows, macOS, Linux, Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, etc. and that’s why it’s so popular.

5. John the Ripper

John the ripper is a password security analysis as well as a password recovery tool for many websites. It can manage different hash functions and ciphers including the ones used for operating systems like Windows, Unix, macOS, etc. John the Ripper is the most popular tool for testing passwords and checking them as it provides functionality format of the password types. It can also be used against web applications such as WordPress, encryption keys such as SSH, database servers like SQL, etc.

6. Nessus

Nessus is a vulnerability assessment tool created by Tenable Inc. that can search out various vulnerabilities in a network such as the denial of service vulnerabilities. It helps in finding vulnerabilities that might allow access to unauthorized users or the loss of sensitive information. Nessus can also find out weak passwords including default values, blank passwords, etc. One additional advantage is that you can save all the final reports generated by Nessus in any format that is convenient such as plain text, HTML, XML, LaTeX, etc. This tool is available as a community edition for free along with two other paid versions.

7. Nmap

Nmap or the Network Mapper is a free and open-source tool that can be used to analyze the network to obtain insights. It is capable of mapping the network despite various obstacles such as routers, firewalls, IP filters, TCP and UDP protocols, etc. Since Nmap is free it does not have a warranty or official support, but there is a wide community that can help you if you encounter any issues. There is also detailed documentation including tutorials, whitepapers, and a book. Nmap is available on various operating systems like Windows, macOS, Linux, Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, etc.

8. Snort

Snort is an open-source network protection software that can detect any intruders and prevent damage to the network. It is capable of performing network analysis in real-time and analyzing protocols such as IP, TCP, UDP, etc. Snort can also handle attacks on the network such as unauthorized port scans, URL attacks, TCP/IP fingerprinting attempts, etc. Snort can be programmed in 3 different modes namely the Sniffer Mode, Packet Logger Mode, and Network Intrusion Detection System Mode. And the best thing is that this software is Free!

9. Mimecast

Mimecast is a company that provides cloud security services for companies Email, web, and data services. It can prevent phishing and impersonation attacks in Email, protect against malicious attacks on the web, increases data resiliency, and also provides training to employees to reduce security risks. You can get a quote for the costs from the Mimecast team if you are interested in accessing this service. Mimecast is an extremely popular company for overall solutions in cybersecurity. It has more than 12 offices globally with around 1800 employees!

10. Intruder

Intruder is a vulnerability scanner that can scan your infrastructure and find any vulnerabilities before hackers can use them. It can search your software for missing security patches, weak encryption and default passwords, or any bugs such as a SQL injection or cross-site scripting. It can also scan your content management system like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc. and find if there are any security issues. It is the commercial software that has three distinct paid versions, namely Essential, Pro, and Verified.

Conclusion

These are some of the most popular and reliable cybersecurity tools in 2020. You can check them out and decide which ones are the most suitable for your needs. Many of them are free and open-source, however, the ones with a subscription also provide a free trial so you can make an informed decision. After all, Cybersecurity is extremely important these days as most of the data is online and the danger of hackers is pretty high!!