As an information security professional, your toolkit is the most critical item you can possess — other than hands-on experience and common sense. Your hacking tools should consist of the following (and make sure you’re never on the job without them):
- Password cracking software, such as ophcrack, Hydra and John
- Network scanning software, such as Nmap
- Network vulnerability scanning software, such as GFI LanGuard and Nessus
- Network analyzer software, such as Cain & Abel and Wireshark
- Wireless network analyzer and software, such as Aircrack-ng and CommView for WiFi
- File search software, such as FileLocator Pro and Identity Finder
- Web application vulnerability scanning software, such as Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner and WebInspect
- Database security scanning software, such as SQLNinja and SQLmap
- Exploit software, such as Metasploit