Getting ahead of events is usually a good strategy in any area of ​​life. Even in cyber security. Today we will introduce you to the best free hacking tools for Windows that are used by attackers and have a clear goal: test your own networks and devices from what they will do without your permission and you will lose control of your IT infrastructure.

Computer security threats have the technology industry on edge. Breaches and leaks at companies large and small are constant, as are attacks on organizations or administrations responsible for vital infrastructure, and the cyber cold war experts are talking about continues in full force. It is normal that investments in cyber security continue to grow and managed security solutions (from third party specialists) are gaining ground.

The section on home client machines and local area networks that concerns us in this article isn’t much better. Addition Ransomware which has become a major global threat affecting any operating system, platform or device is not an emergency phishing which use identity theft and generally any method of introducing malware in increasingly numerous, sophisticated, dangerous and massive attacks aimed at economic gain, data theft and device control.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new era of hybrid work, which can be beneficial for employees and businesses, but presents an additional challenge for security in domestic environments, which are generally less protected than commercial or office environments. Stay safe from viruses, trojans and samples of all conditions and for all platforms, not forgetting the rise of misinformation, fake news and information manipulation in general, which some analysts see as another computer security problem, is key.

But there’s a problem with staying safe: cybercriminals are ahead of users, companies and companies specialized in security solutions. In this scenario, it’s a good idea to test your IT infrastructure using the same applications they use, always understanding that the goal is to test the devices and networks you’re authorized to use.

Hacking for Windows Get ahead of the “bad guys”!

Although there are general anti-phishing or ransomware measures that are suitable as general protection for all types of users, as well as anti-malware measures if you unfortunately become infected, there is another cyber security strategy used by system administrators and more advanced users: follow it all up by testing your own device .

Using these tools is not easy. It requires time, prudence in use and some knowledge of how a computer network works. However, its advantages are remarkable because they allow us to do so Identify which areas are the “weak spots” of the network and fix them before the “bad guys” discover and exploit them.

Apart from large commercial projects that we can’t even get into by paying because they are reserved for large companies, agencies and governments, these tools are commonly used in hacking (by the good guys and the “bad guys”). vulnerable network analysis. We recall some of the most used, all free to use and some open source. We focus on those available for Windows because they are the most attacked and vulnerable, although most of them are suitable for Linux, macOS and other systems.

At this point we must consider the following: use them at your own risk and ONLY to test your own network and not to others for which you are not authorized, which is morally and legally actionable. Also for educational purposes, always with access permission.

nmap

We’ll start with one of the great references in network testing. Widely used by system administrators, this Network Mapper is used to perform penetration test and identify open ports or services that are running. It offers the response of computers to ping and generally allows auditing of network security and possible vulnerabilities.

Its popularity has become such that we have seen it work in many films, such as The Matrix Reloaded or Battle Royale. Free and open source Nmap runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

Nessus

Originally open source, it later became proprietary software, but remains free for home users with a seven-day trial. He advertises himself as vulnerability scanner the most popular on the Internet, used by more than 27,000 organizations worldwide. Nessus looks for open ports and attempts attacks using various known exploits.

For auditing purposes on your home network, the “dangerous test” option must be disabled to prevent system damage. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and can run on your home computer, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment.

wireshark

A de facto standard that has been with us for over twenty years and that the oldest people around will remember as Ethereal. It is used equally in businesses, educational systems or households as a packet interceptor (sniffer)intended for analysis and solution of network problems, software and development of communication protocols.

It allows you to view network user activity and captured “strange” traffic related to, for example, a Trojan horse. It operates over Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, or PPP networks, and collected data can be viewed via a graphical user interface or a command line terminal. Wireshark is free and open source available for Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD and more.

John the Ripper

This open source application is widely used in penetration testing and security assessment. Password reset High profile for PCs, servers, drives, etc., support hundreds of encryption and hashing types. It also uses dictionary and brute force attacks to achieve faster results.

It is freely available for Linux and macOS. The Windows version (or Android version) is called ‘Hash Suite’ and was developed by one of the main contributors to John the Ripper.

Aircrack-ng

It is a tool for audit of wireless networks, which monitors Wi-Fi network security, tests driver compatibility, and enables intensive scripting. As a hacking method (don’t catch your neighbor’s Wi-Fi…), it takes a few seconds to discover WEP encrypted networks and eventually get WPA/WPA2-PSK networks as well.

Enables comprehensive security evaluation of wireless networks with replay attacks, deauthentication, fake access points and more through packet injection. It allows the transfer of acquired data to text files and maintains a very active community. It works on the command line, but there are several GUIs that use it. Open source and freely available.

Ettercap

One of the most complete detection applications attacks the man in the middle on your home network or any LAN. This is an infiltration technique widely used by cybercriminals, as we have seen in major attacks such as Logjam, a critical vulnerability that affects the TLS protocol and that allows the connection to be degraded to export grade 512-bit encryption in order to decrypt communications.

Ettercap works on major operating systems and you can download it from its website.

Nobody2

It is web server scanner which analyzes more than 6,700 potentially dangerous files or programs and 1,250 web servers. It also checks server configuration items such as the presence of multiple index files, HTTP server options, and attempts to identify installed web servers and software. Scanned items and plugins are updated frequently and can be updated automatically.

Useful since hackers have placed web servers on their network as a method of network entry, using insecure WordPress implementations or outdated Apache servers. Nikto2 is free and open source and can be downloaded from its GitHub repository.

Metasploit

A penetration testing framework that focuses on vulnerability testing and security assessment. It works as a platform for use development and implementationwith an integrated database containing a large collection of exploits, payloads and shellcodes.

The tool can be used to develop an exploit against remote targets and has an active user community that provides constant updates and support. It only works on the command line and is available on your page.

Cain and Abel

This is a tool password recovery for Windows operating systems. It allows you to recover different types of passwords using a dictionary, brute force, cryptanalysis attacks, VoIP conversation recording or wireless network key recovery.

In addition to the password recovery capability, it has been developed to be useful for network administrators, security consultants or professionals and can be used to evaluate the security of our network. The development is finished, but it still works and you can download it from various sites on the Internet.

Burp Suite

This tool allows you to automatically identify several website vulnerabilities. Automate custom attacks and debugging to scan modern web applications with fewer requests. It allows custom configuration for type-specific scanning and offers ZERO-day vulnerability protection and supports detection of errors such as asynchronous SQL injection and blind SSRF.

It requires significant system resources and is not easy for beginners, but it’s all about getting started. It is available on their website, free trial version.

Here we end with this selection of hacking tools for Windows (which are valid for most systems) that can serve as an approach for those who want to start “ethical hacking”. The goal should always be educational, morally responsible testing of your own equipment and improving network and PC security.