Most of the tools mentioned in this post are pre-included in Kali Linux which you can install to have them at once.

These are the tools you must have if you’re building a hack lab for penetration testing or for any security arrangement. They help you detect of any threats that might harm the system.

• Snort
• NetCop

While the above tools do identify any suspicious activity but they can’t protect your data, you need encryption tools for that.

• TrueCrypt (The project has been shut down and no longer supported)
• OpenSSH
• Putty
• OpenSSL
• Tor
• OpenVPN
• Stunnel
• KeePass

Port Scanners :-

The next big thing is Port Scanners, you can’t penetrate a network without knowing what services are running on what ports.

• Nmap
• Superscan
• Angry IP Scanner

Packet Sniffers :-

These tools let you intercept traffic incoming/outgoing from the network.

• Wireshark
• Tcpdump
• Ettercap
• Dsniff
• EtherApe

Vulnerability Exploitation :-

These are the hardcore tools that you will use after identifying the flaw or loop hole in the security of a network.

• Metasploit (The Best)
• Sqlmap
• Sqlninja
• Social Engineer Toolkit
• NetSparker
• BeEF
• Dradis

Packet Crafting tools facilitate finding vulnerabilities within the firewall.

• Hping
• Scapy
• Netcat
• Yersinia
• Nemesis
• Socat

These tools let you crack passwords a computer has stored in it or is transmitting over the network.

• Ophcrack
• Medusa
• RainbowCrack
• Wfuzz
• Brutus
• L0phtCrack
• Fgdump
• THC Hydra
• John The Ripper
• Aircrack
• oclHashcat
• Cain and Abel

Wireless Hacking :-

If a network have a Wi-fi access point then it can easily be broken into. Various encryption methods like WEP, WPA/WPA2  or even the latest WPS have some serious security flaws. These tools help you intrude much easily.

• Aircrack-ng
• Kismet
• InSSIDer
• KisMAC