The Ultimate List of Cyber Security Tools

Since the massive global shift to remote work and study, protecting our personal and professional information has become even more vital. With the increased Internet use, cyber security tools have become a necessity rather than an option to strengthen security in the tech we use.

Mimecast’s fifth annual survey, revealing a 64 percent rise in email threats in 2020 versus 2019, and more than six out of ten companies encountered ransomware attacks. This provides loads of opportunities for cyber security professionals. Read this guide to brush up on the most important cyber security tools in 2022.

The 10 Best Cyber Security Tools

1. Acunetix
2. Burp Suite
3. Cain and Abel
4. Forcepoint
5. Kali Linux
6. KeePass
7. KisMAC
8. Metasploit
9. Truecrypt
10. Wireshark

What Are Cyber Security Tools?

Cyber security tools help a cyber security professional combat, maintain, and protect sensitive personal or professional information on software or hardware. They also help security teams and experts protect programs, networks, and information from successful attacks or destruction. 

Different cyber security tools can scan and flag a range of potential risks. For example, when launching a new product, some security tools can combat the risk of information leaks before the intended launch resulting from unauthorized access. Cyber security tools are used in many industries, such as medicine, education, beauty, government, and the military.

What Are the Main Types of Cyber Security Tools? 

Digital security tools are available to do network traffic analysis, protect us against vulnerabilities, and prevent security breaches through various means. To take advantage of every feature offered by the different cyber security tools available, you should consider learning a programming language like Python or R.

If you don’t have any experience with programming languages, Codemurai and CodeHub are some of the best coding apps for beginners. Let’s have a closer look at the different categories of cyber security tools and how they can help create a safe online environment. 

Encryption Tools

Popular encryption tools use cryptography to stop unauthorized access to sensitive digital data. Cryptography protects computers’ inbound and outbound data sent to other devices over the web. 

Examples of Encryption Tools

• KeePass
• TrueCrypt

Password Audits and Packet Sniffing Tools

Password audits happen when a program tries to guess a password you use in your network. It uses brute force attacks to report ways the password could be easily uncovered. A packet sniffer (sometimes referred to as a packet or network analyzer) is hardware or software that employs continuous monitoring to validate network traffic and help with malware detections.  

Examples of Password Audits and Packet Sniffing Tools

• Cain and Abel 
• Wireshark

Network Intrusion Detection Tools

Intrusion detection systems scan for cyber security threats that substantiate suspicious activities or malicious traffic from intruders. These tools notify cyber security professionals when intrusions happen so that they can attend to the security issue at hand. 

Examples of Network Intrusion Detection Tools

• Acunetix
• Forcepoint

Penetration Testing Tools

Penetration testing, also known as pen test, automates various tasks to simulate a cyber attack. Pen test tools aim to improve efficacy in finding risks that would be extremely difficult to discover through manual analysis of your network services. 

Examples of Penetration Testing Tools

• Kali Linux
• Metasploit

Security Defense and Network Vulnerability Scanning Tools

Security defenses help build a robust cyber security posture. They protect a business’ networks, infrastructure, and classified information from cyber attacks and security events. Vulnerability scanner tools do automated checking on networks, systems, and applications to find cyber security vulnerabilities that could put them at risk of an external or internal threat.

Examples of Security Defense and Network Vulnerability Scanning Tools

• Burp Suite
• KisMAC

Cyber Security Cheat Sheet: A Tabular List of Cyber Security Tools

Tool	Uses	Companies That Use It	Cost	Availability
Acunetix	Network scanning and intrusion detection	EMC Corporation, Confidential Records Inc.	Standard plan $4,495 per website Premium plan $6,995 per website	Commercial tool
Burp Suite	Network vulnerability scanning and protection	Spotify, The European Space Agency	Community edition free Professional version $399 per year Enterprise edition $3,999 per year	Commercial tool
Cain and Abel	Password recovery	Start-up businesses and individuals	Free	Commercial tool
Forcepoint	Network security, access restriction, and intruder blocking	QA Limited, The American Red Cross	Small business and home office use $1,000 6200 series $100,000 2105 series $40,000	Commercial tool
Kali Linux	Penetration testing and security auditing	Foretag, Ventx	Free	Open-source tool
KeePass	Password management through database encryption	Mobility Service Framework / MSF, Marstech	Free	Open-source tool
KisMAC	Network protection from external and internal threats, identity and access management for Mac OS X	Start-up businesses and individuals	Free	Open-source tool
Metasploit	Detection of vulnerabilities	QA Limited, Lorven Technologies	Community edition free Express edition ranges from $2,000 to $5,000 per year Pro edition is $15,000 per year	Open-source tool
Truecrypt	Disk encryption	naviHealth, Oracle	Free	Open-source tool
Wireshark	Packet sniffing	Samsung Electronics, AT&T	Free	Open-source tool

The Best Cyber Security Tools, Explained

Since the arrival of wireless Internet, cyber security has been put under pressure. Using wireless networks expands attack vectors and puts our devices and systems at risk. We all want to protect our information, be it personal or professional. Luckily, cyber security tools perform various security tests to help with our device, data, and network security. 

Acunetix

• Type: Network scanning and intrusion detection
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: EMC Corporation, Confidential Records Inc.
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Standard plan $4,495 per website, Premium plan $6,995 per website, Commercial availability

This network monitoring tool allows businesses to predetermine defenses against over 4,500 vulnerabilities from social engineering attacks, login pages, online forms, shopping carts, or web-based apps. Performing regular crawls through the system’s design, Acunetix simulates attacks to challenge the efficacy of applied cyber security defenses. 

Burp Suite

• Type: Vulnerability scanning and protection 
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: Spotify, The European Space Agency
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Community edition free, Professional version $399 per year, Enterprise edition $3,999 per year, Commercial availability

This network security tool increases safety through real-time network analysis to detect system vulnerabilities. It performs simulation attacks to identify various network security flaws. Burp Suite has three versions, one of which is free. However, take note that the free version is limited, offering only manual and basic tools.

Cain and Abel

• Type: Password recovery
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: Startup businesses and individuals
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Free and commercial tool

This is one of the most widely used cyber security tools. The Cain and Abel tool assists cyber security experts to detect weak passwords and security vulnerabilities on the Windows operating system. Cain and Abel can also detect routed data packets that may encounter security breaches.

It’s used for password recovery among other functions like recording VolP communications. It’s an excellent tool for cryptoanalysis as it decodes scrambled passwords. It can identify cached data and utilizes brute force attacks to crack encrypted passwords. 

Forcepoint

• Type: Network security, access restriction, and intruder blocking
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: QA Limited, The American Red Cross
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Small business and home office use $1,000; 6200 series $100,000; 2105 series $40,000; Commercial availability

Security admins use Forcepoint to customize security for a software-defined wide area network or SD-WAN. It blocks users from accessing certain sites, for example. This network security tool can also block malicious traffic from exposing networks to a security breach. It lets cyber security experts do security assessments to help them devise solutions. 

Created for cloud users, Forcepoint covers network activity monitoring and security measures, such as warnings about cloud servers with possible cyber security risks. This handy tool also allows for more security through various levels of access to confidential data.  

Kali Linux

• Type: Penetration testing and security auditing
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: Foretag, Ventx
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Free and open-source tool

Kali Linux is a popular tool used today in penetration testing and security auditing. With 300 security testing tools for cyber security auditing, this is used for scanning networks and information technology systems to uncover security risks. This is an easy-to-use system as it does not require cyber security experts to run, maintain, or even report its findings. 

KeePass

• Type: Password management through database encryption
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: Mobility Service Framework / MSF,
• MarsTech
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Free and open source

KeePass is used for identity management by most cyber security professionals in many office settings. It uses database encryption methods. It allows system users to access all accounts needed to perform their work with only one password. Combining security and convenience, users can create distinctive passwords to secure various accounts.  

Once the master password is identified, the system auto-fills the password for users. This can be considered a best practice since most network breaches happen due to bad password management. KeePass eliminates erroneous human mistakes that can wreak havoc on cyber security measures.

KisMAC

• Type: Network protection from external and internal threats, identity and access management for Mac OS X
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: Start-up businesses and individuals
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Free and open-source tool

KisMAC is a wireless network security solution for the MAC OS X operating system. It has a wide range of functions more suited to experienced cyber security professionals. This powerful tool is not as user-friendly. It acts as a passive security scanning tool to scan wireless networks while on supported WiFi cards. It also applies brute force attacks to crack the WPA and WEP keys. 

Metasploit

• Type: Detection of vulnerabilities
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: QA Limited, Lorven Technologies
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Community edition free, Express edition ranges from $2,000 to $5,000 per year, Pro edition is $15,000 per year, Open source availability

Metasploit has a great selection of tools for performing penetration testing. Cyber security experts use this tool to identify threats in the network or systems. It aids in designing a security strategy to further solidify cyber defense and maintain security posture. 

Truecrypt

• Type: Disk encryption
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: naviHealth, Oracle
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Free and open-source tool

Truecrypt has been without updates for several years. Despite this, it’s still a preferred tool in security encryption. Designed for on-the-fly encryption, it’s capable of designing virtual encrypted disks in files and encrypting complete storage devices. It allows cyber security admins to encrypt layered content. 

Wireshark

• Type: Packet sniffing
• Companies That Use Best Cyber Security Tools: Samsung Electronics, AT&T
• Best Cyber Security Tools Cost and Availability: Free and open-source tool

Wireshark, formerly known as Ethereal, is a cyber security tool that’s console-based. It uses network analysis protocols and detects real-time network vulnerabilities by scanning all aspects of network traffic, from connections to pieces of data packets. A cyber security expert uses information from Wireshark to identify and resolve network vulnerabilities. 

Why Cyber Security Tools Are Important

The fact that most devices we use store sensitive information of some kind, malicious attacks are a serious problem. Companies need cyber security systems and security staff to manage and define security settings as our dependence on the Internet rises. Luckily there are many ways to build skills in this area, such as enrolling in a cyber security bootcamp. 

This market demand provides various career opportunities. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the job outlook for information security analysts is 33 percent. ZipRecruiter reports the average salary of a cyber security specialist is $111,052. If you want to work with security applications to protect people or businesses, a career in cyber security may be perfect for you.

Cyber Security Tools FAQ