8 Best Operating System for Ethical Hacking

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Writer: Kishwar Tahmid Razin

Maximum newbie hackers struggle with a common question, "Which OS does the real hackers use or which OS is best for ethical hacking?"Well, both questions are the same. If you want to grow up your career with ethical hacking then these are common questions. You need to be an expert on some perfect tools.

You can't be a pro hacker with Windows. Again, you can't use any distro of Linux. You have to find out and use those operating systems, which are only made for pen testing and hacking. In this article, I am writing about some operating systems from my knowledge and experience, which were only developed based on ethical hacking or pen-testing.

Actually, the blackhat and gray hat hackers use these OS and tools. It doesn't matter for which purpose you are using these. As I am writing on ethical hacking, so I will think of protecting security not breaking. Let's start.

1. Black Arch

If you are looking for a complete Linux distro, then BlackArch will be the best solution for you. It was developed based on Arch Linux. It is a very important OS for ethical hackers and security specialists. There are about 2400+ pre-installed tools. The hackers can't ignore it. Its other focus is, it is a lightweight expansion for pen testers. Every tool is tested very carefully before installing them in the OS. It is ranked 37th while Kali is 38th. People recommend this distro because it can be run from live USB.

2. Kali Linux

Kali Linux is the first choice of all hackers because it is an open-source OS. It is a Debian-based Linux. It is developed especially focusing on penetration testing and security auditing. Mainly, it is a developed version of BackTrack. It is pre-installed with about 600+ pen-testing and security-related tools. Kali Linux is completely customized according to the hacker's comfort all the way down to the kernel. You can also run it from USB like the other distros. You can't use all tools in the live version, so to usefully you have to install it on your pc. In some android phones, you can run Kali Linux. Learning Kali Linux is not that difficult but before switching to Kali you must use other distros like Ubuntu. It's the latest version is 2020.3 released on 12  May 2020.

3. Pentoo Linux

It can be guessed easily from its name that this distro is mainly developed for pen testing and based on Gentoo Linux. It is a fast OS and it has both 64/32 bit versions. This OS is developed only focusing on ethical hacking. It has also got a live CD version. You can easily turn this distro into a bootable USB. Database, Cracker, Scanner, Exploit, etc. tools are pre-installed in this distro.

4. BackBox

This distro is very popular with hackers. You will get a complete desktop flavor. It is a Ubuntu-based OS. But it is developed specially for security and pen-testing. It mainly provides network and in a formic systems analysis toolkit. Especially, it has got the ability to schedule an automated backup or restoring of device configuration, single-click recovery, etc. It is ideal for organizations, multi-tenant sites, and service providers. It a stable OS, which receives updates regularly. You will also get updates on the tools. It is very friendly for Beginner's, so it is a useful distro for newbie hackers.

5. Parrot Security OS

Parrot is a popular OS for security and pen-testing. It is developed based on Debian. It is a mixed version of Frozenbox and Kali Linux. This distro is cloud-friendly and it is especially for ethical hacking, pen testing, computer forensic, cryptography, etc. You can call it a portable security lab. It is best for having maximum anonymity. Though it mainly focuses on security it's another focus is, it is a light-weight OS that can run very smoothly. Besides, it has got a strong hacking community as it comes with a Mate desktop environment which is highly customizable.

6. DEFT Linux

DEFT(Digital Evidence and Forensic Toolkit)  is a Lubuntu based(Lubuntu is based on Ubuntu) OS. It is pre-installed with free best incident response, cyber intelligence, such as tracking, distributing, etc. There is also analysis and combat computer forensics. Ethical hackers,pen-testers, it security specialist, etc. also uses this distro. It has got 100+ built-in forensic and hacking tools.

7.BackTrack

BackTrack is an awesome OS. It has got some unique features. It is a specialized Linux distro. It was specially built to test networks, devices, network cracking, etc. It has got every security and hacker tool used by professional hackers and security specialists. Currently, there are no supported versions of BackTrack. This project was shut down and moved to Kali Linux. 

8. Cyborg Hawk

It is a Linux distro based on Ubuntu with the latest kernel for cybersecurity Specialists. It was developed for ethical hackers and pen testers. It can be used for network security and digital forensics. It has got 750+pen testing tools. It can be used as a live USB also. It is fully free and will be.