Top Cyber Security tools for Cyber Experts

What are cyber security tools? Why are they important?

Cyber security tools come in the form of software programs and hardware appliances built to defend networks, infrastructure, and data from threats and attacks. With the world moving fast towards digitization, there is an urgent need for cyber security tools.

With the advantages of digital transformation systems, comes its pitfalls in the form of vulnerabilities which can result in systems breach or data theft. These can result in damages worth millions not to mention reputational loss and legal consequences. Cyber security tools play a big role in securing and strengthening the posture of the network systems, infrastructure, and data.

What are the key features of a cyber security tool?

• It should provide support and access to the hardware, software or a cloud-based system which is easy to set up and maintain
• It should be easily configurable by the administrators with convenient controls on a dashboard
• The security tool should be graphic user interface enabled for easy management
• It should be compatible with other network tools for easy integration
• It should provide transparent visibility into the transactions in order to have a clear audit trail

The list of common and effective cybersecurity tools used by experts

The cybersecurity tools can be divided into the following:

1. Network Hardening, Monitoring and Security Tools It is a set of applications aimed at monitoring network traffic, defensive security, and active security by sniffing its own network. It finds vulnerabilities that need to be addressed via an automated system. They are used by penetration testers and by experts to secure networks from the inside.

• Argus - An opensource tool used for traffic monitoring. It signals network intrusion early on, analyzes network packets, and generates traffic reports.
• PacketFence - A free tool that manages access control for networks of all sizes. It is used for removing malware and it also supports the bring your own device (BYOD) feature.
• Wireshark - A popular traffic monitoring tool that analyzes, decrypts, and logs network traffic.
• Snort - It is an active defense tool that works as an antivirus for web traffic.
• Splunk - It acts as a scaling tool on the internet for data breaches and sends out alerts in case information is found in a data dump.
• Breach Alarm - As the name indicates, it triggers alarms in case of a breach. Its main focus is on passwords that are exposed.
• NoMoreRansom - It is a site that provides decryption keys for older ransomware attacks. It can help organizations save millions on ransom money.

2. Password Auditing Tools Passwords, although, a big part of authentication systems comes with its share of vulnerabilities. Managing and protecting passwords and ensuring the use of strong passwords is a critical part of a cyber security professional’s job.

• John the Ripper - It is used to audit and crack passwords and overlooks the general security. It cracks passwords using encryption protocols, transmission methods, etc. It is mainly used to track weak passwords and weak authentication methods.
• KeePass - It manages passwords and has the ability to store a large number of complex passwords for different elements in an organization. It is undoubtedly one of the best tools for defensive security and for securing passwords.

3. Web Vulnerability Tools The three main sources of threats are infected emails, infected devices, and malicious traffic. The cyber criminals continuously scan the network systems for vulnerabilities via scripts, bots, services etc., in order to exploit them. Thus, the only way out is to seek vulnerabilities from outside by using such tools to avoid exploitation by outside elements.

• Nikto - A web scanner tool, it scans the website for outdated software, known malicious actors, to outdated-version related vulnerabilities.
• Burp Suite - It is a broad-spectrum web scanner tool that scans the web and servers for vulnerabilities and schedules scans using a set of manual tools.
• Nessus Professional - It is a vulnerability assessment tool that is quite popular among the cyber security experts. Apart from scanning and loathing problems, it also fixes them provided given the authority to do so.
• Acunetix - There are many other ways that an attacker can slip malicious data onto servers such as using shopping carts, login pages, online forms etc. Acunetix tool is used to analyze and fix vulnerabilities in these surfaces.

4. Encryption Tools Encryption is vital to protect data from being exploited. Thus, it is prudent to encrypt traffic and data as much as possible. End-to-end encryption is one such method.

• Tor - It is used to anonymize traffic and data thus making it difficult to trace. It is widely used in penetration testing and for encryption purposes.
• TCPCrypt - While it is important to do complete encryption, in case it doesn’t happen, for whatever reason, then this tool does it automatically.

5. Penetration Testing Tools These tools are used by the “red team” or a team of ethical hackers who use it to identify vulnerabilities from the outside. These are versatile in nature and can be used as a defensive tool as well as an offensive tool

• Aircrack - Widely used a pentest tool, it is used to test, audit and protect networks. It is used to test the wi-fi networks, monitor, and capture wi-fi traffic.
• Lucy Security - Phishing, a form of social engineering, via emails is one of the most common forms of attacks. It tricks users into revealing important information by pretending or impersonating a person in authority. This tool protects against email-based threats. It is also used to simulate phishing attacks for the purpose of training.
• Metasploit - It is an open-source platform used primarily for pentesting. It has the recent and most common exploits that helps organizations to successively defend against attacks.
• Nmap - It maps out the entire network and identifies open ports. It is used to identify potential vulnerabilities and is a great pen testing tool.

6. Platforms Suites and Resources Instead of using individual tools which becomes cumbersome over time, it is easier to use a suite of tools that are already integrated and are easier to set up.

• Kali Linux - It has over 300 pre-loaded tools that take care of network analysis, penetration testing and much more. A much needed and useful tool for cyber security professionals.
• Got Phish - It gives information on how to handle phishing , everything from identifying the threat, the severity of it, reporting to relevant authorities, and eventually blocking the threat. It is handled by SwiftOnSecurity, a Twitter account.

Conclusion

Organizations conduct almost 90% of their business transactions online. Some major threats are in the form of malware, viruses, and hackers. There has been an increase in cyber attacks by 125% through 2021 and is expected to increase in 2022. The cost of cyber crime in businesses results in losses that run in millions of dollars. Data breaches in 2022 alone cost an estimated loss of $4.35 million. These statistics show the urgent need of cyber security to protect businesses where the cybersecurity tools will be an asset to any organization.