Hired Hacker’s Toolkit: Top 50 Tools and Technologies with Their Uses and Costs

The world of ethical hacking is as expansive as it is intricate. Central to the success of an ethical hacker are the tools they employ when they are hired for hacking. Here, we will explore 50 of the most prominent tools used by hackers for hire, diving into their uses, functions, and approximate costs.

1. Hire a hacker for Nmap (Free)
   • Use: Network Discovery
   • Description: Often termed the ‘Network Mapper’, Nmap is an open-source tool for network discovery and security auditing. It can be used to discover devices running on a network and find open ports along with various attributes of the network.
2. Hire a hacker for Wireshark (Free)
   • Use: Traffic Analysis
   • Description: Wireshark is a widely-used network protocol analyzer. It lets users capture and interactively browse the traffic running on a computer network.
3. Hire a hacker for Metasploit (Free – Community Version)
   • Use: Vulnerability Exploitation
   • Description: One of the most popular frameworks for vulnerability exploitation, Metasploit offers insights into potential vulnerabilities in the system by simulating attacks.
4. Hire a hacker for Burp Suite (Free – Community Edition; Pro Version at $399/year)
   • Use: Web Vulnerability Scanning
   • Description: Burp Suite is a tool for testing web application security. It scans, maps, and analyzes web application vulnerabilities.
5. Hire a hacker for John the Ripper (Free)
   • Use: Password Cracking
   • Description: This tool is adept at detecting weak passwords by employing various attack methods like dictionary and brute force.
6. Hire a hacker for Aircrack-ng (Free)
   • Use: Network Cracking
   • Description: A comprehensive suite of tools designed specifically for assessing WiFi network security, Aircrack-ng is essential for cracking wireless vulnerabilities.
7. Hire a hacker for OWASP ZAP (Free)
   • Use: Web Application Testing
   • Description: An open-source tool from OWASP’s trusted arsenal, ZAP is used for finding vulnerabilities in web applications.
8. Hire a hacker for Maltego (Price varies based on edition; starts at $999/year)
   • Use: Information Gathering
   • Description: Maltego is an interactive data mining tool that renders directed graphs for link analysis, making it easier to identify relationships between data.
9. Hire a hacker for Hydra (Free)
   • Use: Password Cracking
   • Description: A powerful parallelized login cracker, Hydra supports numerous protocols for attack.
10. Hire a hacker for SQLmap (Free)

• Use: Database Vulnerability Exploration
• Description: This open-source penetration testing tool automates the process of detecting and exploiting SQL injection flaws, taking over database servers as a result.

11. Hire a hacker for Cain & Abel (Free)

• Use: Password Recovery
• Description: A Microsoft OS-exclusive tool, Cain & Abel assists with the recovery of various types of passwords by sniffing networks, cracking encrypted passwords, and more.

12. Hire a hacker for Nessus (Varies; Nessus Professional starts at $2,790/year)

• Use: Vulnerability Scanning
• Description: Nessus, one of the most popular vulnerability scanners, aids in identifying vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and malware that attackers could exploit.

13. Hire a hacker for Acunetix (Starting at $4,500/year)

• Use: Web Application Scanning
• Description: Acunetix detects and reports on a wide array of web application vulnerabilities, ensuring online applications are secure.

14. Hire a hacker for Hashcat (Free)

• Use: Password Cracking
• Description: Recognized as one of the fastest password cracking tools, Hashcat leverages the power of GPUs to break cryptographic hash functions.

15. Hire a hacker for Shodan (Free for Basic; Membership starts at $59)

• Use: Device Search Engine
• Description: Often termed the “search engine for devices,” Shodan offers insights into various internet-connected devices, from routers to smart devices.

16. Hire a hacker for Mimikatz (Free)

• Use: Memory Analysis
• Description: Designed primarily for Windows, Mimikatz extracts plaintexts passwords, hash, PIN codes, and kerberos tickets from memory.

17. Hire a hacker for Kali Linux (Free)

• Use: Penetration Testing OS
• Description: An open-source project that’s maintained and funded by Offensive Security, Kali Linux is a robust platform offering myriad tools for various security tasks.

18. Hire a hacker for Tails (Free)

• Use: Privacy-focused OS
• Description: A live OS designed to be used on any computer but leaving no trace unless explicitly requested, Tails is all about preserving privacy and anonymity.

19. Hire a hacker for Snort (Free)

• Use: Intrusion Detection and Prevention
• Description: An open-source intrusion prevention system, Snort is capable of real-time traffic analysis and packet logging on IP networks.

20. Hire a hacker for BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework; Free)

• Use: Web Browser Penetration Testing
• Description: Unlike other tools that focus on the server-side, BeEF focuses on the client-side, exploring the web browser’s vulnerabilities and exploiting them.

21. Hire a hacker for Ghidra (Free)

• Use: Software Reverse Engineering
• Description: Released by the NSA, Ghidra is an open-source software reverse engineering (SRE) suite of tools. It’s used to analyze malicious code and malware and provide insights into what that software is doing.

22. Hire a hacker for Armitage (Free)

• Use: Cyber Attack Management
• Description: A graphical cyber attack management tool for Metasploit, Armitage visualizes targets and recommends exploits.

23. Hire a hacker for Checkmarx ($$ – Pricing on request)

• Use: Static Code Analysis
• Description: Checkmarx analyzes source code, identifying potential vulnerabilities in custom code and open-source components.

24. Hire a hacker for Apktool (Free)

• Use: Reverse Engineering Android Apps
• Description: Apktool is a tool for reverse engineering 3rd party, closed, binary Android apps, allowing security researchers to decompile and inspect apps.

25. Hire a hacker for OWASP Amass (Free)

• Use: Advanced Domain and Network Mapping
• Description: An advanced open-source tool, Amass helps security professionals with network mapping of attack surfaces and external asset discovery using open-source information gathering and active reconnaissance techniques.

26. Hire a hacker for Nikto (Free)

• Use: Web Server Scanning
• Description: An open-source web server scanner, Nikto checks against web servers for multiple items, including over 6700 potentially dangerous files or programs.

27. Hire a hacker for DirBuster (Free)

• Use: Directory and File Brute Forcing
• Description: Part of the OWASP suite, DirBuster brute forces directories and files names on web/application servers, unearthing hidden assets.

28. Hire a hacker for Volatility (Free)

• Use: Memory Forensics
• Description: Volatility Framework is an open-source collection of tools for extracting digital artifacts from volatile memory (RAM) samples.

29. Hire a hacker for Netcat (Free)

• Use: Networking Utility
• Description: Termed the “Swiss army knife” for TCP/IP, Netcat reads and writes data across network connections using TCP or UDP.

30. Hire a hacker for OWASP CSRFGuard (Free)

• Use: Guard Against Cross-Site Request Forgery
• Description: CSRFGuard is a library that implements a variant of the synchronizer token pattern to mitigate the risk of Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks.

31. Hire a hacker for Recon-ng (Free)

• Use: Web Reconnaissance
• Description: A full-featured web reconnaissance framework, Recon-ng aids in web-based open-source reconnaissance and helps in thorough analysis.

32. Hire a hacker for Splunk ($0 – $150/GB, depending on version and volume)

• Use: Log Monitoring
• Description: A platform for searching, monitoring, and examining machine-generated data, Splunk turns logs and other data into actionable insights.

33. Hire a hacker for SET (Social-Engineer Toolkit, Free)

• Use: Social Engineering Attacks
• Description: Focusing on penetration testing around social engineering, SET offers a myriad of attack vectors, including spear-phishing and malicious USB drops.

34. Hire a hacker for Radare2 (Free)

• Use: Reverse Engineering
• Description: Radare2 is a comprehensive framework for reading, analyzing, and editing binaries. It’s portable and highly customizable.

35. Hire a hacker for GoPhish (Free)

• Use: Phishing Campaign Toolkit
• Description: An open-source tool, GoPhish helps businesses test employees against phishing attacks, gauging their reactions to simulated attacks.

36. Hire a hacker for Binary Ninja ($149 – $599 depending on edition)

• Use: Binary Analysis and Reverse Engineering
• Description: With a focus on the representation of compiled binaries, Binary Ninja uses a multitude of analysis methods ensuring accurate data.

37. Hire a hacker for Cuckoo Sandbox (Free)

• Use: Malware Analysis
• Description: An open-source software for automating analysis of suspicious files, Cuckoo Sandbox provides detailed results on what such files execute.

38. Hire a hacker for YARA (Free)

• Use: Malware Identification and Classification
• Description: A tool primarily used in malware research and detection, YARA gives researchers the ability to identify and classify malware samples.

39. Hire a hacker for Docker (Free to $35/month for Pro)

• Use: Containerization for Scalable Deployment
• Description: Docker is essential for deploying applications inside containers, streamlining processes for ethical hackers setting up environments.

40. Hire a hacker for Jupyter Notebook (Free)

• Use: Data Analysis and Visualization
• Description: Jupyter offers an open-source platform for live code, equations, visualizations, and more, aiding in data-driven security analytics.

41. Hire a hacker for Fiddler (Free; Pro versions vary in cost)

• Use: Web Debugging and Traffic Logging
• Description: Fiddler captures HTTP and HTTPS traffic data, aiding in the analysis and debugging of web traffic from applications or browsers.

42. Hire a hacker for OpenVAS (Free)

• Use: Vulnerability Scanning
• Description: An advanced open-source vulnerability scanner and manager, OpenVAS identifies potential issues in servers and networks, suggesting remediation tips.

43. Hire a hacker for Cobalt Strike ($3,500/year)

• Use: Adversary Simulations and Red Team Operations
• Description: Cobalt Strike provides post-exploitation tools and spear phishing aids to emulate advanced threats.

44. Hire a hacker for IDA Pro ($589 – $1,219 depending on edition)

• Use: Disassembler and Debugger
• Description: One of the top tools for reverse engineering, IDA Pro dissects binary programs to provide a detailed view of their inner workings.

45. Hire a hacker for OllyDbg (Free)

• Use: Binary Analysis
• Description: OllyDbg is an assembly-level debugger for Microsoft Windows. It’s widely used for software cracking, though ethical hackers leverage it for deep software analysis.

46. Hire a hacker for MISP (Malware Information Sharing Platform, Free)

• Use: Threat Sharing and Malware Analysis
• Description: MISP allows for the structured sharing of technical and financial indicators from attacks. It’s used for sharing structured threat information.

47. Hire a hacker for BloodHound (Free)

• Use: Active Directory Trust Analysis
• Description: Using graph theory, BloodHound identifies unique attack paths in Active Directory environments, showing potential security risks.

48. Hire a hacker for Wazuh (Free)

• Use: Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
• Description: Wazuh monitors and analyzes security alerts from various sources, ensuring real-time threat detection and swift response.

49. Hire a hacker for Sysmon (Free)

• Use: Advanced System Monitoring
• Description: Part of Microsoft’s Sysinternals suite, Sysmon offers advanced system monitoring and logging, useful in security event correlation and detection.

50. Hire a hacker for ModSecurity (Free)

• Use: Web Application Firewall (WAF)
• Description: As an open-source WAF, ModSecurity stands guard at the edge, protecting web applications from a variety of threats and attack techniques.

 

With this array of tools in their arsenal, ethical hackers meticulously evaluate, test, and fortify digital landscapes against the ever-evolving panorama of cyber threats. Each tool plays a pivotal role in cybersecurity, ensuring that our digital lives remain uncompromised and secure. Whether you’re delving into the world of ethical hacking, bolstering your organization’s defense posture, or merely quenching your cyber-curiosity, understanding these tools offers a window into the vast domain of cyber defense.