Security Tools Arsenal

Comprehensive guide to the best cybersecurity and penetration testing tools. Curated by professionals, tested in real-world scenarios.

Reconnaissance & Scanning

Nmap

Network discovery and security auditing tool. The industry standard for port scanning and network mapping.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Network scanning, port discovery, OS detection

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Masscan

Fastest port scanner on the internet. Can scan the entire internet in under 6 minutes.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Large-scale network scanning

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Shodan

Search engine for internet-connected devices. Find vulnerable systems worldwide.

Type

Freemium

Platforms
WebAPI
Use Case

Internet-wide reconnaissance, IoT discovery

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Censys

Internet-wide scanning platform providing visibility into devices and networks across the internet.

Type

Freemium

Platforms
WebAPI
Use Case

Attack surface management, certificate discovery

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Recon-ng

Full-featured reconnaissance framework with independent modules and database interaction.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

OSINT gathering, domain recon, contact harvesting

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Amass

In-depth attack surface mapping and asset discovery using open source information gathering.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Subdomain enumeration, DNS mapping, asset discovery

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Web Application Testing

Burp Suite

The #1 web application security testing tool. Essential for finding web vulnerabilities.

Type

Free & Professional

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Web app pentesting, API testing, vulnerability scanning

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OWASP ZAP

Free alternative to Burp Suite. Great for automated scanning and manual testing.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Web vulnerability scanning, API testing

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Nikto

Web server scanner that tests for dangerous files, outdated software, and misconfigurations.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Web server vulnerability scanning

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SQLMap

Automatic SQL injection and database takeover tool. Supports virtually all database engines.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

SQL injection detection and exploitation

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ffuf

Fast web fuzzer written in Go. Excellent for directory/vhost/parameter discovery.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Directory brute-forcing, parameter fuzzing, vhost discovery

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Nuclei

Fast and customizable vulnerability scanner based on YAML templates with 7000+ community templates.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Automated vulnerability scanning, CVE detection, misconfiguration checks

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WPScan

WordPress security scanner. Detects vulnerable plugins, themes, and misconfigurations.

Type

Freemium

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

WordPress vulnerability scanning, plugin enumeration

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Gobuster

Directory/file, DNS, and vhost busting tool written in Go. Extremely fast.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Directory enumeration, DNS subdomain brute-forcing

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Exploitation Frameworks

Metasploit Framework

The world's most used penetration testing framework. Contains thousands of exploits.

Type

Free & Professional

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Exploitation, post-exploitation, payload generation

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Cobalt Strike

Commercial adversary simulation and red team operations platform.

Type

Commercial

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Red team operations, C2 infrastructure

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Sliver

Open source cross-platform adversary emulation/red team framework by BishopFox.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

C2 framework, implant generation, red team ops

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Empire

Post-exploitation and adversary emulation framework using PowerShell and Python agents.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Post-exploitation, lateral movement, persistence

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BeEF

Browser Exploitation Framework. Focuses on client-side attack vectors via web browsers.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

Browser exploitation, XSS attacks, client-side testing

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Network Analysis

Wireshark

The world's foremost network protocol analyzer. Essential for network troubleshooting.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Packet analysis, network forensics, protocol debugging

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tcpdump

Command-line packet analyzer. Lightweight alternative to Wireshark.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

Packet capture, network monitoring

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Responder

LLMNR, NBT-NS and MDNS poisoner. Captures NTLMv1/v2 hashes on the network.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
Linux
Use Case

LLMNR/NBT-NS poisoning, credential capture

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Bettercap

Swiss Army knife for WiFi, Bluetooth, and network reconnaissance and MITM attacks.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

MITM attacks, network recon, WiFi hacking

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NetworkMiner

Network forensic analysis tool for detecting OS, sessions, hostnames, and open ports.

Type

Freemium

Platforms
LinuxWindows
Use Case

Network forensics, PCAP analysis, host identification

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Password Cracking

Hashcat

World's fastest password cracker. Supports 300+ hash types with GPU acceleration.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Password recovery, hash cracking

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John the Ripper

Fast password cracker with support for many hash and cipher types.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Password auditing, hash cracking

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Hydra

Fast network logon cracker supporting numerous protocols including SSH, FTP, HTTP, and more.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

Online password cracking, brute force attacks

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CeWL

Custom wordlist generator that spiders a target website to create targeted password lists.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

Custom wordlist generation, targeted password attacks

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Vulnerability Scanning

Nessus

Industry-leading vulnerability scanner with comprehensive coverage for network and web flaws.

Type

Freemium

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Vulnerability assessment, compliance auditing, patch management

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OpenVAS

Full-featured open-source vulnerability scanner. Free alternative to Nessus.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
Linux
Use Case

Network vulnerability scanning, compliance checks

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Trivy

Comprehensive security scanner for containers, filesystems, git repos, and Kubernetes.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Container scanning, IaC scanning, SBOM generation

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Wireless & WiFi

Aircrack-ng

Complete suite for assessing WiFi network security. Supports WEP and WPA/WPA2 cracking.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

WiFi cracking, packet capture, deauthentication

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Wifite

Automated wireless attack tool. Simplifies WiFi auditing with automated workflows.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
Linux
Use Case

Automated WiFi attacks, WPS/WPA cracking

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Kismet

Wireless network and device detector, sniffer, wardriving tool, and WIDS framework.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

Wireless network detection, wardriving, IDS

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OSINT & Information Gathering

Maltego

Visual link analysis tool for OSINT and forensics. Maps relationships between data points.

Type

Freemium

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

OSINT analysis, threat intelligence, link analysis

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theHarvester

Gathers emails, subdomains, hosts, employee names, and open ports from public sources.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

Email harvesting, subdomain enumeration, OSINT

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SpiderFoot

Automated OSINT collection tool with 200+ data source modules for reconnaissance.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Automated OSINT, threat intelligence, footprinting

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Sherlock

Hunt down social media accounts by username across 400+ social networks.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Username OSINT, social media profiling

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Forensics & Incident Response

Autopsy

Digital forensics platform with GUI for analyzing hard drives and smartphones.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindows
Use Case

Disk forensics, file recovery, timeline analysis

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Volatility

Advanced memory forensics framework for extracting artifacts from memory dumps.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Memory forensics, malware analysis, incident response

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YARA

Pattern matching tool for malware researchers to identify and classify malware samples.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Malware identification, threat hunting, IOC detection

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Velociraptor

Endpoint visibility and collection tool for digital forensic and incident response.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Endpoint monitoring, artifact collection, threat hunting

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Reverse Engineering

Ghidra

NSA's open-source software reverse engineering framework with powerful decompiler.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Binary analysis, malware reverse engineering, decompilation

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IDA Pro

Industry-standard interactive disassembler and debugger for reverse engineering.

Type

Commercial

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Disassembly, debugging, malware analysis

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Radare2

Open-source reverse engineering framework with CLI tools for binary analysis.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Binary analysis, exploitation, forensics

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Cloud & Container Security

ScoutSuite

Multi-cloud security auditing tool for AWS, Azure, GCP, and more.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Cloud security auditing, misconfiguration detection

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Prowler

AWS & Azure security assessment tool aligned with CIS benchmarks and GDPR/HIPAA.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxmacOS
Use Case

AWS/Azure security auditing, compliance checks

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CloudSploit

Cloud security posture management detecting misconfigurations across AWS, Azure, GCP.

Type

Free & Open Source

Platforms
LinuxWindowsmacOS
Use Case

Cloud misconfiguration scanning, compliance monitoring

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Want More Resources?

Check out our cheat sheets, learning paths, and security writeups for hands-on guides.