Top Network Security Tools You Should Be Using, According To The Experts

The more tools an InfoSec professional has to work with, the better they will be able to address the task at hand. The first step is to have access to various computer network security programs. Knowing how to put them to use is the essence of network protection.

New security threats seemingly appear daily. These attacks are progressive and require multi-point security. Administrators must quickly identify security vulnerabilities in order to protect sensitive data. These applications are a great starting point for anyone who works in Information Security. Don’t miss the expert contributors!

Network Security Monitoring Tools

One of the best free and open source tools available for network traffic analysis. Argus is an acronym for Audit Record Generation & Utilization System. This program does exactly what it says. The program provides a thorough, efficient analysis of network traffic, sorting through large chunks of data with fast and comprehensive reporting. Whether or not it’s the only traffic monitoring tool users need, it provides a solid foundation.

P0f remains popular in spite of a lack of updates. It hasn’t changed much in the past decade, because it was almost perfect when released. P0f is streamlined and efficient. It generates no extra traffic. It can be used for identifying the operating system of any server with which it communicates. This category includes many tools that create probes, lookups of names, queries and more. P0f runs fast and is lightweight. It is a must-have tool for advanced users but may be difficult to use for novices. Users can choose which notifications they would like to receive. Nagios, to many, is the name of traffic monitoring. Network management that is comprehensive and covers all bases. One of the most powerful free tools for cybersecurity professionals and small businesses alike.

Argus

Designed for both real-time analysis and historical data searches. Splunk is an easy-to-use network monitoring tool. Splunk has a powerful search feature that makes monitoring applications easy. Splunk has a free version. The free version has limitations. It is a great tool for those with a limited budget. Independent contractors are usually careful with the tools they purchase. Splunk’s cost is worth it. Splunk is a great investment for any information security professional who has a large client base. Splunk is available on a wide range of platforms including Linux, Windows Mac, BSD and VMWare ESX. The OSSEC community also shares useful information, such as strategies, modifications and support. Other available tools include “Atomicorp,” which provides ‘self-healing’ to automatically fix detected vulnerabilities, and Wazuh, which offers training and support.

P0f

InfoSec professionals honestly need a lot of tools to do their work. If only had to choose one; it would be a properly tuned Data Analytics Aggregator or SIEM software; e.g., Splunk

Nagios

There’s too much data to try to parse and correlate between devices and hosts on your own. You need to be collecting decrypted packets and logs and then enriching it with threat intelligence.

At least for our group, our backbone is Splunk-the features that set it apart from most SIEMs is that it handles unstructured data quite well and can scale easy. The majority of shops use logs and NetFlow. Splunk, while not a SIEM in itself, can be configured to perform this function and include predictive analytics right out of the package. It also Supports both push and pull models.

Splunk

Dennis Chow CISO of

Encryption Tools

OSSEC

Tor gained a lot of press when people started talking about the “dark web” some years back. The dark web was not as frightening as urban legends had made it seem. Tor is a tool that ensures privacy on the Internet. Users are harder to track when requests are routed to proxy servers. Despite malicious exit nodes that sniff traffic, it is not a major concern if you use Tor carefully. Tor’s applications in InfoSec are more plentiful than its applications in cybercrime.

Used in identity management, KeePass is a necessity for many office settings. A simple password management system. KeePass lets users access all their accounts using a single password. KeePass combines convenience and security by allowing users to create unique passwords. InfoSec professionals who have been in the field for longer than a single day understand how crucial this is. KeePass helps network security officers manage the human element of their job. KeePass helps network security officers manage the human element of the job.

TrueCrypt remains popular despite having gone years without updates. TrueCrypt was abandoned by its developer in 2014. It is still a powerful tool, despite being technically outdated. TrueCrypt is a disk encryption system that allows content to be encrypted in layers with two levels of access control. Open, free, powerful software. TrueCrypt is still popular even though it hasn’t been updated for four years. One of the best open source security programs available.

Kali Linux is a security system designed for digital forensics and penetration testing which now can run on both Linux distributions and Windows operating systems. It’s compatible with many wireless devices. It is valued for more than 600 tools geared towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer Forensics, and Reverse Engineering.

QRadar SIEM, IBM’s Security Intelligence Platform that provides real-time visibility of the entire IT infrastructure. It has a large number of modules, including Log Management, Security Intelligence and Network Activity Monitoring. IT Security Risk Management, Vulnerability Management and Network Forensics are also available via a web-based interface. QRadar is a commercial tool, but you can use its free version with 50 Events per Second (EPS) limit known as Community Edition.

Web Vulnerability Scanning Tools

SCIS Security

A powerful tool for network protection. Burp Suite, a real-time security scanner for networks, is designed to detect critical vulnerabilities. Burp Suite simulates an attack to determine the potential cybersecurity threats that could infiltrate a network. The suite comes in three different versions: Professional, Community and Enterprise. Professional and Enterprise versions are paid-for application testing tools that include the web vulnerability scanner. The Community version, while free, is severely limited. The Community version includes only the manual tools that are essential. Burp Suite can be a powerful tool for business, but it may be too expensive for smaller organizations. One of the most popular open-source management tools for vulnerability scanning. Nikto scans web servers and network for matches against a database of more than 6400 threats. The

Tor

network security software

KeePass

hasn’t been updated for some time but it still works. The threat database is updated regularly. Nikto is a cornerstone of many security professionals’ vulnerability assessment routines. For many security professionals, Nikto is a cornerstone of the vulnerability assessment routine.

TrueCrypt

Java-based web proxy Paros Proxy includes several useful tools for running security tests. This includes a web crawler, traffic recorder and vulnerability scanner. Excellent for detecting network intrusion openings to some of the most common threats, including detecting SQL injection attacks and cross-site scripting.

Very easy to edit with even rudimentary Java or HTTP/HTTPS knowledge. Paros Proxy can be edited by anyone who knows how to write web applications. An excellent network protection software testing tool for identifying a security risk before it becomes a security breach.

Companies seeking improved access to potential weak spots in their network can use this free open source monitoring tool. This tool is designed to give a detailed look at each network. Including indicating hosts, what services are being provided at each host, what types of packet filters are in use and other features.

Nmap also includes a debugging tool for all major platforms and can be used to scan one network at a time or multiple networks at once. The network security tool is designed to be user-friendly and can be easily customized.

ScienceSoft

Refer to our article on Nmap commands, explore the examples and learn how to use Nmap efficiently.

Burp Suite

For all the times that your organization may have improperly configured security settings or put in the wrong patch, this software corrects mistakes and improves the integrity of your networks.

Nikto

Nessus identifies and repairs detected vulnerabilities, including missing or incomplete patches; software bugs; or other general misconfigurations throughout applications, devices, and operating systems.Along with the Pro version, admins/security experts can consider a free open source scanner that looks for possible exploits. The daily database updates are one of the benefits of Nessus. The latest information on threats and patches is always available. The software does not check for version numbers, and it doesn’t even verify that the programs are working as they should. Users can access a variety of security plug-ins as well as develop their own and scan individual computers as well as networks.Available for Unix and Linux systems, there’s also a Win32 GUI client that works with Windows products. Users must pay an annual fee to use all of its services. Nessus is used by more than 24,000 companies worldwide and claims to have the lowest false positive rate among its competitors, plus offers access to more than 100,000 security plug-ins that are regularly updated.

Paros Proxy

Nexpose offers real-time, on-premises vulnerability scanning and management.

It helps security/IT teams look for, detect, and reduce possible weak points, and presents ‘live’ views of the network. It is constantly updated and adapts to the latest threats. This is useful for coordinating responses to multiple breaches or delegating workflow, starting with the weakest areas where more serious/potentially damaging breaches are most likely to occur. Metasploit’s framework is ideal for penetration testing. Available in open source versions for developers/security staff or a commercial Pro version.

NMap

Users can use the network security tool from Rapid7 to look for more than 1,500 exploits, including network segmentation security. It also allows companies to perform various security assessments and improve their overall network defenses, so they’re more thorough and responsive.

Kali Linux offers a security auditing operating system and toolkit with more than 300 techniques to ensure your sites and Linux servers stay safe from attack.

Nessus Professional

Trave Harmon, Chief Executive Officer,

Packet Sniffers and Password Auditing Tools

Ready to crack some passwords, or at least test how strong yours are?

Openwall is designed to detect weak passwords quickly.

Nexpose

Initially designed for Unix environments, it now works with Windows, OpenVMS, and DOS systems. John searches for hash passwords, as well as complex ciphers or encrypted logins. Openware provides patches and updates as password security and technology evolve. The Openware community provides updates and patches as password technology and security evolves. Users can access standard wordlists for over 20 languages, including words and letters from several languages. Tcpdump, although not the latest packet sniffer on the market, set the industry standard. Tcpdump is a network sniffer that has remained popular due to its active development. The tool uses fewer system resources than competing options and opens little security risk.

Ethereal was the name that Wireshark debuted under. Modeled mainly after Tcpdump, the console-based tool is an excellent protocol analyzer.

Wireshark offers real-time network analysis. Users can view the reconstructed TCP sessions. Wireshark is the most popular, but many prefer Tcpdump because of its security and resource-saving features. Software is updated regularly to enhance its powerful packet sniffing capabilities. Wireshark, although not everyone’s first pick for security professionals, is an indispensable tool. Some claim that this is only a hacking tool. I disagree.

Kali Linux, formerly known as Backtrack, is a collection of freely-available tools that offer something to everyone (network security, applications security, and information security). There are about 100 or more tools in there, and there is a tool for every capability and intention.

You can download the ISO image, burn it on to a CD or put it in a USB flash drive and boot almost any computer into Kali Linux. The image can also be booted into a VM, and it works on a MAC.24 By 7 Security

Amar Sing, Founder, Cyber Management Alliance Ltd.

Metasploit

Network Defence Wireless Tools

A collection of WEP/WPA cracking tools. Aircrack offers ideal internet security for mobile devices. Cracking algorithms is essential for Aircrack. Airdecap is included in the suite for WEP/WPA file capture decryption, and airplay for packet injection. The suite also includes a number of other apps, resulting in a powerful set for InfoSec. Aircrack offers a one-stop solution for many wireless security issues. With the tools in this suite, professionals can complete a job all at once. AirCrack may not be able to handle all tasks. AirCrack is the only tool that can accomplish many tasks. This is a necessary tool to warddrive, or find open access points within a wireless network. This software is only available for Windows and there is no source code. Some people may find this difficult to accept. Security can be enhanced by being able to edit code from open sources. NetStumbler is popular because of its active WAP-seeking method. NetStumbler has a reputation for detecting security vulnerabilities that other scanners miss. This is a Mac OS X version of Kismet with a completely different codebase. KisMAC excels at mapping and penetration testing with deauthentication attacks.

Kali Linux

Fognigma creates an encrypted security network by linking randomly leased virtual machines from multiple cloud providers, which then work as one network. This network contains an organization’s chat server, file share, video conferencing and more. All of these are protected by two layers of AES cryptography, just like every connection within a Fognigma Network. Fognigma offers network administrators granular controls for users to simplify Identity and Access Management. Each component is accounted for (whether it’s a fileshare or an exit/entry, files, etc.). Groups are created. A user can be added to a group and have access to that component. A few mouse clicks and precise access to organization resources is completely under control.

Chris Mindel,

Rapid fire toolsNetwork Intrusion & Detection

AuvikAn enterprise-grade open-source IDS is compatible with any OS and hardware. The system performs protocol analysis, content searching/matching, and detection of various network security attacks (buffer overflow, stealth port scanner, CGI attacks, OS fingerprinting attempts to name a few).

Snort’s ease of configuration, rules’ flexibility, and raw packet analysis make it a powerful intrusion detection and prevention system.OpenVASForcepoint’s SD-WAN can be customized to keep users from accessing certain types of content, as well as blocking a variety of intrusion attempts and exploits.

Admins also can quickly see activity on all networks and can take action rapidly, instead of taking time to track down problems. This service is designed for enterprises that work in the cloud. It can block or warn about cloud servers with high risk. The network security tool has become so popular that a company can demonstrate compliance by using it on a network. It also provides software and network auditing as needed for vulnerable areas in desktops or mobile devices, and automatically creates patches for Mac, Windows, and Linux systems.Triton Computer Corporation

There is always legitimate fear that hackers may attack your business directly through your firewall or via internal threat/social engineering.

John the Ripper

Less attention is given to the security risks of web-based applications like shopping carts, login pages, or online forms. Acunetix can help businesses protect against more than 4,500 threats, including SQL injections. It crawls your site architecture regularly and uses conventional hacking techniques to ensure your security defenses are responding appropriately. Manual testing is also available for specific areas of concern.

Musubu, R2i’s network intelligence service is my preferred tool. It also includes open-source threat detection engines like Suricata and AlienVault. Musubu offers a more comprehensive set of data. It focuses on the context of the network, the threat posed by a subnet and the larger environment of origin.

complements the open source threat detection engines by providing greater detailed business intelligence, including a unique threat score, threat classification, detailed location information, and reduction of false positives.

Tcpdump

Bradford Lee, Director of Operations, Release 2 Innovation

Wireshark

In Closing, Information Security Tools

Good network security describes everything that potentially could impact your company’s systems and everything that helps keep those threats away.

Network security tools focus on hardware, software, even policies, and procedures to encourage everyone in an organization to practice smart approaches to keeping data safe. Network security tools focus on hardware, software, policies and procedures to encourage everyone in an organization to practice smart approaches for keeping data safe.