Ethical hacking is an essential skill in today’s world. Computer networks are becoming more and more used by people. Security therefore becomes the number one priority of an organisation or an individual while they’re on the web. Any information leak can lead to a disaster if misused by a black-hat. To counter security breaches and prevent any security attacks, your ethical hacking skills can come in handy.
Not only hacking proves as a useful skill for self defense online, but it can also provide people with jobs. Ethical hackers who are skilled enough can get jobs with extremely high salaries. Moreover, ethical hackers are respected all around the world and not messed up with over the internet.
Just as any journey would begin in the computing world, hacking also requires a good operating system choice to begin with. You must not only have good control over the OS that you use for ethical hacking but the OS should also be good enough. Different operating systems come with different tools and features. There is a vast variation in the levels of ease of usability too. The success of your hacking operation depends essentially on the operating system that you use. After all, it is the OS that is going to follow the commands, and provide you with satisfactory results. A smart hacker is only smart if he chooses his OS wisely.
So, here’s a list of top 20 operating systems for you to choose from for the beggining of your ethical hacking journey.
Rank 20: Weakerthen OS: This operating system has got a really cool GUI(Graphical User Interface). It has a great command line interface control and is a Debian Based OS. Starters tend to like it.
Rank 19: Matriux: forensics tend to use this Os as it is full of data recovery tools. It is an Ubuntu based OS and performs tasks well such as hacking servers.
Rank 18: Blackbuntu: For practice purposes this is one of the best operating systems to choose from as it provides with great tools that help with your security training. It is highly recommended for students.
Rank 17: Network Security Toolkit (NST): This OS is widely used as a monitoring system on machines that act as hosting servers and also virtual servers.
Rank 16: DEFT linux: Do you wish to work as a security analyst for the government? If yes, then this is the perfect OS for you as it is often used by forensics and provides with excellent features.
Rank 15: Gnacktrack: This OS is based on Ubuntu Linux. It is totally worth your time to give this a try.
Rank 14: Bugtraq: This OS comes with a wide range of tools and services that are related to malware. Also this will give you total support while working with technologies such as blue-tooth and Wifi. It is available in 32 as well as 64-bit versions. It also comes in a vast variety of languages so this might be the next operating system for you
Rank 13: Caine: This is not only good for hacking but it could also become you next favorite OS for general use. This one is commonly used by forensics as it includes great tools for database pUrposes
Rank 12: Blackbox: In the hacking world, minimization of features is always better for your OS. Following this ideology, this operating system is at your disposal as it provides some of the best penetration and testing tools.
Rank 11: Samurai Webtesting framework: It’s one of the most elite operating system and highly appreciated by penetration testing professionals and ethical hackers all around the world. It come with excellent tools for hacking.
Rank 10: Noppix STD: Are you a fan of open source software. If yes, then congratulations because there is an OS that matches your needs exactly. The Noppix OS comes with a lot of free and open source software.
Rank 9: Node Zero: It’s a really cool looking OS. It comes with a lot of open source tools and available in 32 bit and 64 bit versions. It is Linux based and appreciated by hackers all around the world. It is a must try.
Rank 8: Cyborg hawk Linux: If you want to go in the field of malware analysis, this is the right choice for you as this operating system comes with many such tools. It can be booted via a cd and helps great tools to strengthen your security.
Rank 7: Pentoo: Hacking passwords is a big part of the skills required to be an ethical hacker. This OS provides full support in doing such things. It can be booted via a USB stick and really stands out compared to other operating systems.
Rank 6: Fedora security spin: It is a really popular Linux distribution and teachers tend to use this one. It includes nearly all the important tools for a wide range of tasks. This one beats many other operating systems.
Rank 5: Dracos Linux: This OS is open source and it includes a big amount of excellent tools if you’re in forensics or if you want to gather information or for many other hacking tasks. Many professional hackers reccomend this.
Rank 4: Blackarch Linux: You get around fourteen hundred tools in this one. This is a really useful OS and it has a really cool looking GUI.
Rank 3: Parrot Security: It’s a very useful OS if you know what you’re doing. It is extremely powerful when used by the right person. It gives the best ethical hacking experience. It can be used by forensic experts.
Rank 2: Live Hacking: This is an operating system that is out of the box. It provides with top class tools for ethical hacking and penetration testing. It is recommended by many experts. Its GUI is based on gnome.
Rank 1: Kali Linux: This is the king of all Operating Systems used for hacking. There are many specialties of this OS some of which include great GUI, easy to use, wide range of tools, speed, convenience and you can use many general applications too on this one. This is used by many professionals all over the world, and is free of cost.