Top 100 Network Security Tools

Source

Insecure.Org is delighted to release this 2006 survey. I (Fyodor) asked users from the nmap-hackers mailing list to share their favorite tools, and 3,243 people responded. This allowed me to expand the list to 100 tools, and even subdivide them into categories. Anyone in the security field would be well advised to go over the list and investigate tools they are unfamiliar with. I discovered several powerful new tools this way. I also point newbies to this site whenever they write me saying “I don't know where to start”.

Respondents were allowed to list open source or commercial tools on any platform. Commercial tools are noted as such in the list below. No votes for the Nmap Security Scanner were counted because the survey was taken on a Nmap mailing list. This audience also biases the list slightly toward “attack” hacking tools rather than defensive ones.

Each tool is described by one ore more attributes:

	Did not appear on the 2003 list
/	Popularity ranking rose / fell the given number since the 2003 survey
	Generally costs money. A free limited/demo/trial version may be available.
	Works natively on Linux
	Works natively on OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Solaris, and/or other UNIX variants
	Works natively on Apple Mac OS X
	Works natively on Microsoft Windows
	Features a command-line interface
	Offers a GUI (point and click) interface
	Source code available for inspection.