Powerful security tools to use in penetration testing

Question

I want to ask you about some good security tools you've used or heard about, please let us know the ability in every tool and the difficulty to use it and which is the best situation to use this tool .
Edit: my question is about tools like metasploit, scapy, nmap ....etc

Answer 1

Your brain. Tools can be excellent force multipliers, but the most essential pen tester tool is a well tuned noggin that knows in depth the systems (both technological and human) it is attacking. The ability to think creatively about potential failure modes is indispensable.

Answer 2

I couldn't agree more with @spinkham's answer. That is the best answer.

To add to @ygjb's power tool list, on the web app side, these tools are excellent for extracting data

First use the Burp Suite to identify points of opportunity - this tool can be challenging to gain proficiency in if you're new to how web apps work

Powertools to help you exploit SQL injection vulnerabilities

sqlmap & sqlninja
sqlmap & sqlninja have been invaluable to me - the information revealed from extracting the data in target databases (usernames, password hashes, trust relationships, etc.) was key to attacking/compromise additional devices

Also, there are many commercial exploit kits, to name a few:

White Phosphorus Exploit Pack http://www.immunityinc.com/products-whitephosphorus.shtml
Agora Exploit Pack http://gleg.net/agora.shtml
VulnDisco Exploit Pack Professional http://www.intevydis.com/vulndisco.shtml
D2 Exploitation Pack http://www.immunityinc.com/products-dsquare.shtml

Answer 3

If you are referring to attack platforms that would be used for penetration testing, then you are probably best off looking into the following:

• Metasploit (+ Express, Pro), free with commercial versions
• CANVAS commercial (low cost)
• CORE Impact (high cost)

But those tools don't necessarily have everything you would want. You should also look at the Backtrack linux distribution, which is a VM or disc image that contains a large collection of security tools for many disciplines.

Aside from that, there are so many powerful tools and libraries written in it, Python deserves a mention too :)

Answer 4

Today while I was searching I saw this book : SecurityPowerTools, it covers many security tools and really has great explanations about them.I think it covers a huge side in my question.

Answer 5

Here is a previous answer of mine discribing a list of tools that I use for penteting web applications : http://security.stackexchange.com/a/13487/4508