Best Penetration Testing Tools You Can Use in 2023

What is Penetration Testing?

Penetration testing tests a computer system, network, or web application to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. This can include performing security checks on your website and its applications and attempting to find ways to break into your site’s defenses.

Why do Businesses Need Penetration Testing Software?

Many organizations use penetration testing software to test their security posture and identify weaknesses before attackers can exploit them. A penetration test aims to simulate an attack on the business to identify and address vulnerabilities before hackers or malicious actors use them.

Performing a penetration test should be integrated into your overall risk management program to ensure that you are identifying the most critical risks facing your organization and prioritizing them correctly.

If you're worried about your company's security, penetration testing software is a great way to ensure that your website is protected from hackers and other cybercriminals. Penetration tests will help you identify weaknesses in your system so that you can fix them before they cause any damage. Penetration testing software can also help identify areas with no defects, which means you can rest easy knowing that your site is secure!

What are the Key Features of the Penetration Testing Tool?

Penetration testing tools are used to test the security of a network or system. Network penetration testing tools allow you to assess the vulnerability of your network and detect if there are any weaknesses in the security. The purpose of penetration testing software is to make organizations aware of their shortcomings to improve their security measures.

The following are some of the critical features of penetration testing tools:

1. Vulnerability Scanning

This is one of the primary purposes of penetration testing tools. It helps in detecting any possible vulnerabilities in your network. The device will scan every port on your computer and detect whether they are open or closed. If they are available, then it means that someone can hack into your system.

2. Penetration Testing:

It is another essential feature of penetration testing tools that allows you to exploit any vulnerabilities during the scanning process. You can either manually use them or let the software automatically do it.

3. Network Mapping:

Network mapping helps in identifying all devices connected to your network, including mobile phones, laptops, etc., along with their IP addresses, device names, operating systems, and other information related to each device connected to your network.

4. Footprinting:

Identify all available information about the target network before beginning any attacks. This includes identifying public sources that can be used to find the company name, address, phone number, etc.

What are the Benefits of Pen Testing Tools?

The benefits of pen testing tools are:

1. Identify and Prioritize Risks

Pen testing tools help identify vulnerabilities in an application or system. These can include missing patches for known vulnerabilities, improper access control, misconfigurations, and other issues that may expose your application. The results from a pen test give you insight into what needs to be fixed to ensure that your software is more secure than it would be otherwise.

2. Prevent Hackers from Infiltrating Systems

Pen testing tools can also be used as part of a broader security strategy called red teaming. Red teaming refers to having two teams compete against one another to see which team can best defend against the other team's attacks. This helps prevent hackers from infiltrating systems because they don't know what their techniques will look like until they try them against real systems.

3. Mature your Environment

Continuing to mature the security posture within your organization’s environment is a great way to maintain a competitive advantage against other organizations in your industry. Pen testing tools demonstrate that information security and compliance are paramount for the clients’ organization and that you’re continuously dedicated to striving towards optimum security.

4. Avoid Costly Data Breaches and Loss of Business Operability

Pentesting tools with vulnerability management systems can help you discover where your vulnerabilities lie and how hackers can exploit them. You can then take remedial measures to plug the holes and keep your company safe from cyber-attacks. This will also help you comply with industry standards and regulations such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, and ISO 27001.

5. Comply with Industry Standards and Regulations

Pen testing tools are used to verify whether an organization's security policies are being implemented correctly, for example, if there is a gap between what is written in policy documents and what is done on the ground level.

The compliance process usually involves performing several tests, including vulnerability scans and penetration testing (pen-testing). Once these tests have been completed successfully, it's time for the auditor to evaluate the results based on pre-defined criteria before certifying that an organization has met all the requirements set by regulations or industry standards like PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), ISO27.

6. Easy to Use

Penetration testing tools make it easier for IT professionals to perform penetration testing. This means they can test their applications, networks, and systems without too much effort. The software is designed to help them assess the security of their web applications, mobile devices, and other digital resources.

7. Leverage Automation

Penetration testing tools automate network mapping and scanning tasks, discovery, exploitation of vulnerabilities, and more. They also provide powerful features such as advanced reporting capabilities, making them ideal for novice and expert users. This allows you to do much more with your time than manually testing everything yourself.

8. Cost-effective Than Manual Testing

Manual testing involves sending out emails and waiting for users' responses to find out if there are any security issues with your website or application. Pentesting tools can take an extremely long time because every test requires sending out an email before receiving a response from the user. With automated testing software, you no longer need to rely on users' responses because these programs will scan your website's data automatically for any possible issues or vulnerabilities within the system.

Types of Penetration Testing Tools

Penetration testing can consist of one or more of the following types of tests:

1. White Box Penetration Testing

White box testing is the most common type of penetration testing, where you have full knowledge of the target environment and have access to source code and design documents. This type of testing is usually performed by security professionals who are familiar with the application and know how it works under normal circumstances. White box penetration testing will provide more accurate results than black box testing, which is why this method is used by most organizations when performing a pentest.

2. Blind Penetration Testing

Blind tests are similar to white-box tests, except that the tester does not see the network layout or any of the systems before starting their testing. This ensures that no information is inadvertently revealed to the tester during work.

3. Double-Blind Penetration Testing

Double-blind penetration testing is similar to blind testing, except that both parties involved in testing do not know each other's activities until all testing is complete. This helps ensure neither party has any advantage over the other when it comes time to evaluate results and report findings.

4. Internal Penetration Testing Tools

The most common use for online penetration testing tools is internal penetration testing. This penetration test is conducted by an organization's IT professionals, who the organization hires to find weaknesses in its internal network security systems. Internal penetration tests are typically performed periodically so that IT professionals can ensure that their systems remain secure.

5. External Penetration Testing Tools

External penetration tests are performed by third parties, such as external security consultants or other companies. These tests are typically more thorough than those performed internally because they can be done without the limitations inherent to an internal team.

What are the Best Penetration Testing Tools on the Market?

1. Netsparker

Netsparker penetration testing solution automatically and safely exploit vulnerabilities such as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and SQL Injection by generating a proof of exploit to prove that they are not false positives. In addition, Netsparker Mobile Application Security enables you to scan the applications in your mobile environment for weaknesses using Netsparker’s industry-leading scanning technology.

Key Features

• Risk Management

• Vulnerability Scanning

• Vulnerability Protection

• Asset Discovery

• Vulnerability Assessment

• IOC Verification

2. Wireshark

Wireshark is an open-source network protocol analyzer that enables users to capture and analyze packets on a network. This penetration testing system provides the ability to view all network traffic, troubleshoot network connectivity issues, and monitor the traffic between various applications in real-time.

Key Features

• Live capture and offline analysis

• Rich VoIP analysis

• Read/write many different capture file formats

• Capture compressed files (gzip) and decompress them on the fly

• Deep inspection of hundreds of protocols

• Multi-platform 

• Powerful display filters

• Coloring rules for quick and intuitive analysis

3. Acunetix

Acunetix is a web penetration testing tool that helps its users safeguard web applications, websites, and APIs. It combines dynamic and static scanning technologies and utilizes a separate monitoring agent to detect vulnerabilities. In addition, it offers vulnerability management functionality and compliance reporting capabilities through integration with the Atlassian product suite.

Key Features

• Automated Penetration Testing

• Website Security Scanner

• External Vulnerability Scanner

• Web Application Security

• AcuSensor Technology

• AcuMonitor Technology

4. Burp Suite

Burp Suite developed by PortSwigger is a fully featured cyber security software designed to serve SMEs, Enterprises. PortSwigger provides end-to-end solutions designed for Windows. This online Cyber Security system offers all the services related to Penetration Testing, Intrusion Detection, Network Defense, and Software Vulnerability Management.

Key Features

• Full-speed Burp Intruder

• Automated scanning for vulnerabilities

• Advanced/custom automated attacks

• Free, Pro-exclusive BApp extensions

• Burp Collaborator client

• Content discovery feature

• Burp Scanner

What Should Consider When Purchasing Penetration Test Tool?

There are many best penetration test tools available in the market. But you must be careful when purchasing one because not all devices suit your business. Therefore, you must consider certain factors before buying a penetration test tool.

Here are some points you should consider before buying a penetration test tool:

1. Cost

You need to know how much money you want to spend on the tool. You can use free or low-cost penetration testing tools if your budget is limited. But if your budget is high, you can also use premium and expensive tools. It all depends on your requirements and budget.

2. Platforms

Various platforms are available in the market, such as Windows, Android, etc. Do you need to check which platform the tool support? If you want to conduct tests on multiple platforms, then make sure that the tool supports them all or not. You can also check out this article- Web Application Penetration Testing Tools – Which one should I use?

3. The Methodology of the Tool (Automated and Manual Pentest)

The skills and certification of the tool: You must ensure that your software is certified by a third-party organization. The certificate will help you determine whether the software is legitimate or not. For example, if you have purchased a tool that does not have any certification, then it might be possible that some of its features may not work correctly.

4. Communication & Collaboration

You should always ensure that your penetration test tool has good communication and collaboration features. This will make it easy for you to communicate with other team members while performing tests on different applications. In addition, if your software has collaboration capabilities, it will also help improve productivity and efficiency during testing activities.

5. Clarity On Next Steps

Before purchasing any product, you must understand how it works and the steps involved in getting started. If your vendor does not provide this information to customers at the time of purchase, it might lead to confusion when trying out new features on their computers or devices.