Wednesday, 13 March 2013

Tools Update (13th Mar 13)

My slightly irregular update on new and updated Information Security tools that I have come across or use. The tools are mainly those for PenTesting although other tools are sometimes included. As a bit of background into how I find these tools, I keep a close watch on twitter and other websites to find updates or new releases, I also search for pen testing and security projects on Source Forge. Some of the best sites I have found for details of new tools and releases are http://www.toolswatch.org/ http://tools.hackerjournals.com 

Big news is the release of Kali Linux, the enterprise version of Backtrack, the announcement http://www.backtrack-linux.org/backtrack/kali-linux-has-been-released/ points to a new web site http://www.kali.org/ that supports the project.

In their words "From the creators of BackTrack comes Kali Linux, the most advanced and versatile penetration testing distribution ever created. BackTrack has grown far beyond its humble roots as a live CD and has now become a full-fledged operating system. With all this buzz, you might be asking yourself"

I have downloaded a copy to try but the big differences are listed as being that Kali Linux is geared towards professional penetration testing and security auditing. 

As such, several core changes have been implemented in Kali Linux which reflect these needs:


  • Single user, root access by design: Due to the nature of security audits, Kali linux is designed to be used in a “single, root user” scenario
  • Network services disabled by default: Kali Linux contains sysvinit hooks which disable network services by default. These hooks allow us to install various services on Kali Linux, while ensuring that our distribution remains secure by default, no matter what packages are installed. Additional services such as Bluetooth are also blacklisted by default
  • Custom Linux kernel: Kali Linux uses an upstream kernel, patched for wireless injection.

An interesting development is the availability of distro suitable for the Raspberry Pi 




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