Top Cybersecurity Tools and their use from Beginner to Advanced

Cyber crime is one of the glaring issues today as the world is fast moving towards mass-scale digitalisation. As per the market reports, the number of data breach incidents (daily) has grown to over 2,000 in recent times. At the global level, 1 in every 5 internet users experience serious cyber crimes. Approximately 1 billion emails face hacking attacks every year, posing a major threat to both personal and business confidential data.
Cyber attacks have not only led to huge monetary losses but resulted in reputational damage and legal consequences for businesses. Cybercrime incidents are soaring at a staggering rate, thereby creating a growing demand for cybersecurity professionals. Cybersecurity experts hold expertise in vulnerability assessment of computer networks, protection of confidential data, and so on. These professionals use cutting-edge cybersecurity tools to build an unscalable IT defence.

How do Cybersecurity Tools Help?

These tools help to thwart cyber attacks in different areas of a cyber network infrastructure. Plus, it aids in addressing disaster recovery and operational security. Moreover, cybersecurity tools play a significant role in safeguarding sensitive and personal data. Additionally, cybersecurity experts need these tools to monitor the IT environment and keep tabs on possible vulnerabilities and threats.
Our industry-leading cybersecurity courses educate our learners about all the major tools used in the contemporary cybersecurity domain. Our learners receive both theoretical and hands-on training on deploying these tools in real-life scenarios.

Top 5 Cybersecurity Tools

There are several cybersecurity tools used by professionals to identify exploits and protect the systems from online attacks. Among the many, here is a list of top 5 that are a must-have in the arsenal of every cybersecurity expert.

• Metasploit:

  Metasploit framework is the most powerful collection of tools and is the most used tool for penetration testing across the world. Based on a Ruby-based open source framework, the tool allows testing through GUI and enables ethical hackers to probe systemic vulnerabilities. With the use of Metasploit, pentesting experts can use the custom code or the pre-installed code and can intrude it within the network for probing security flaws.

• Burp Suite:

  Burp Suite is the set of tools that is used by the professionals for web application penetration testing. Burp Suite is the integrated platform including various tools that work seamlessly for supporting the entire process of testing. This includes the process from initial mapping as well as analysis of the attack surface of application. It is a Java based testing tool that provides comprehensive solutions for the security checks in web applications.

• Nmap:

  Network mapper is a Linux based open source and free utility tool for the security auditing and network discovery. It is used for the IP address scanning and ports within the network and is utilised for detecting the installed applications. A major benefit of Nmap is that the tool helps in quick mapping of the network without the use of sophisticated configuration or commands. It also supports the complex scripting and simple commands through the scripting engine in Nmap. Moreover, the tool allows the network admin in finding the devices that run on the network and for discovering open services and ports and to detect the vulnerabilities.

• Wireshark:

  Wireshark is the open source and free to use packet analyzer that is used for apprehending data back and forth. Also termed as “packet sniffer”, the tool puts the network card into the unselective mode for accepting the packets that are received. The wireshark is widely deployed by administrators for troubleshooting and isolating the problems within the network. It is further used for capturing sensitive data like passwords and usernames.

• Acunetix:

  Acunetix is the scanning engine that has been developed with the use of coherent technologies and handles complex web applications that use JavaScript and HTML5. It is an open source network scanning tool. It works in real time and covers a range of security vulnerabilities inclusive of OWASP top 10 including Cross Site Scripting (XSS), SQL injections as well as other misconfigurations of web server. The false positive reporting rate in Acunetix tool is comparatively low which makes it proficient in managing the network vulnerability and web vulnerability assessment.

Key Advantages of Installing Cybersecurity Tools

• Protect the Vulnerable and Sensitive Data:

  Cybersecurity professionals take help of these tools to encrypt and safeguard vulnerable data.

• Improved Productivity:

  Advanced cybersecurity tools provide a range of IT defences that help to keep the network safe, thereby leading to improved productivity for organisational systems.

• Reduced Data Breach:

  Cybersecurity tools help to ensure lesser incidents of data breach. Cybersecurity professionals take the help of these tools to safeguard personal information and online passwords that thwart unauthorised access to confidential information. Also, these powerful resources facilitate faster scanning capability through seamless integration with the existing systems.

• Minimise Impact on Business Operations:

  The cybersecurity tools come handy in checking different web application flaws, including the SQL injection and XSS. The tools also provide notification for the threat occurrence and provide PCI ASV scans.

• Protecting Data from Hackers:

  Cybersecurity tools use strict protocols which restrict hackers from stealing sensitive data of users.

• Compliance to Data Security Rules:

  Cybersecurity tools help to ensure compliance to legal restrictions by encrypting personal data. The rules also include compliance to security measures such as HIPAA and PCI DSS.

At DataSpace Academy, we are driven to bring forth the best in industry learning. Its industry-relevant course covers necessary ethical hacking and penetration testing. Our modules on certification in ethical hacking cover tools such as Nmap and Nessus. Along with theoretical concepts, you get hands-on training on the use of tools of cybersecurity.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is one of the promising and futuristic domains that has a huge career prospect. With the increasing number of cybercrimes, there has been a growing demand for professionals well-versed in cybersecurity tools. The cybersecurity tools provide professionals with an easy and comprehensive approach to assess the vulnerabilities existing in the network and monitor network defences. Cybersecurity tools further help to create encryption protection that in turn enhances overall network security. In a nutshell, these resources are a must-have to establish a secure cyber operational framework with least possible malicious threats.