Essential Security Tools for Penetration Testing

tools pentesting security

Essential Security Tools for Penetration Testing

A curated list of essential tools every security researcher should be familiar with.

Web Application Testing

Burp Suite

Burp Suite is an integrated platform for performing security testing of web applications. It includes:

  • Proxy for intercepting requests
  • Scanner for automated vulnerability detection
  • Intruder for custom attacks
  • Repeater for manual request manipulation

OWASP ZAP

The OWASP Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP) is a free, open-source security testing tool for finding vulnerabilities in web applications.

Network Analysis

Wireshark

Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer that lets you capture and interactively browse the traffic running on a computer network.

Nmap

Nmap (Network Mapper) is a free and open-source utility for network discovery and security auditing.

# Basic scan
nmap -sV target.com

# Stealth scan
nmap -sS target.com

Conclusion

These tools form the foundation of any security researcher’s toolkit. Master them, and you’ll be well-equipped to identify and exploit vulnerabilities responsibly.