Ethical Hacking – Top 21 Operating Systems

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parrot security os download
parrot security os download

Ethical Hacking – Like to learn about computer and network security or to find vulnerabilities in your network or are you searching for the best-operating systems for ethical hacking and pen testing or like to know which is the favorite operating system of hackers? — then stop! Here is the list of the most widely using infamous ethical hacking operating systems or we can say digital forensic tools.

Tech mistake | Almost all the best ethical hacking operating systems for security experts are based on Linux kernel, so favorite operating systems of all types of hackers are always Linux — though a security-focused operating system is a security analyst’s best friend. But also keep in mind that, simply having these operating systems doesn’t make anyone a security expert or hacker — you should also learn some essential programming languages to enrich your knowledge in this field.

Note: Only For Educational Purposes

Listed operating systems are for educational purposes only. Do not try to use it if it’s not legal in your country. And also not use them to harm anybody or to gain unauthorized access to any account you do not own. Use this software only for analyzing your own security. I do not take any responsibility for anything you do use this application. Use at your own risk.

Favorite Operating Systems of hackers :


So check out the 21 best Linux hacking os using for pen testing and other security measures.

1. Kali Linux

kali linux operating system Also Read: A-Z Kali Linux Commands

Kali Linux maintained and funded by Offensive Security Ltd. is one of the well-known and favorite ethical hacking operating systems used by hackers and security professionals. Kali is a Debian-derived Linux distribution designed fReal hackers or digital forensics and penetration testing. It was developed by Mati Aharoni and Devon Kearns of Offensive Security through the rewrite of BackTrack, their previous forensics Linux distribution based on Ubuntu.

Apart from desktop support, Kali Linux also has a dedicated project set aside for compatibility and porting to specific Android devices, called Kali Linux NetHunter. When comes to security tools, this top ethical hacking operating system is equipped with 600+ preinstalled pen testing tools and they are frequently updated and are offered for different platforms like ARM and VMware. Now Kali Linux is based on a rolling release model.

Download Kali Linux from the official website

2. BackBox

backbox operating systemBackBox is an Ubuntu-based penetration testing Linux distribution. It provides penetration test and security assessment oriented providing a network and informatics systems analysis toolkit along with a complete set of other tools required for ethical hacking and security testing.

It includes some of the most used security and analysis Linux tools to help out security experts from stress tests to sniffing including vulnerability assessment, computer forensic analysis, and exploitation.

Download BackBox from the official website

3. Parrot Security OS

parrot security os Parrot Security OS (or ParrotSec) is a GNU/LINUX distribution based on Debian. This Linux distribution is for hackers builds to perform penetration testing, vulnerability assessment and mitigation, computer forensics, and anonymous surfing. It has been developed by Frozenbox’s Team.

Parrot is cloud-friendly Linux distribution and unlike other ethical hacking operating systems, Parrot OS is a lightweight Linux distro —  runs over machines that have a minimum 265Mb of RAM and it is suitable for both 32bit (i386) and 64bit (amd64), with a special edition it works on old 32bit machines (486).

Download Parrot Security OS from the official website

4. Live Hacking OS

live hacking os Live Hacking OS is a Linux distribution packed with tools and utilities for ethical hacking, penetration testing, and countermeasure verification. It includes the graphical user interface GNOME inbuilt. There is a second variation available that has a command line only, and it requires very few hardware requirements.

Download Live Hacking OS from the official website

5. DEFT Linux

DEFT LinuxDEFT stands for Digital Evidence and Forensic Toolkit and it’s an open-source distribution of Linux built around the DART (Digital Advanced Response Toolkit) software and based on the Ubuntu operating system. It has been designed from the ground up to offer some of the best open-source computer forensics and incident response tools that can be used by individuals, IT auditors, investigators, military, and police.

Download DEFT Linux from the official website

6. Samurai Web Testing Framework

samurai web testing frameworkThe Samurai Web Testing Framework is a live Linux environment that has been pre-configured to function as a web pen-testing environment. The CD contains the best open-source and free tools that focus on testing and attacking websites. In developing this environment, we have based our tool selection on the tools we use in our security practice. We have included the tools used in all four steps of a web pen test.

Download Samurai Web Testing Framework from the official website

7. Network Security Toolkit

Network Security Toolkit The Network Security Toolkit (NST) is a Linux-based Live CD that provides a set of open-source computer security and networking tools to perform routine security and networking diagnostic and monitoring tasks. The distribution can use as a network security analysis, validation, and monitoring tool on servers hosting virtual machines. The majority of tools published in the article “Top 125 security tools” by Insecure.org are available in the toolkit.

Download Network Security Toolkit from official website

8. 1Bugtraq-II

bugtraq2Bugtraq-II is a GNU/Linux distribution focused on digital forensics, penetration testing, malware laboratories, and GSM forensics. 3Bugtraq-II is available in 11 languages with more than 500 ethical security hacking tools installed and configured. Depending on your desktop environment, the features vary. The minimum requirements are based on XFCE and KDE, this ethical hacking os needs a 1GHz x86 processor & 512 MB of system memory 15 GB of disk space for installation.

Download Bugtraq-II from official website

9. NodeZero

nodezero NodeZero is an open-source Linux kernel-based ethical hacking operating system derived from Ubuntu and designed to be used for penetration testing operations. Besides the fact that it allows you to start the live system, the boot menu contains various advanced options, such as the ability to perform a system memory diagnostic test, boot from a local drive, start the installer directly, as well as to boot in safe graphics mode, text mode or debug mode.

With NodeZero you will have instant access to over 300 penetration testing tools, as well as a set of basic services that need in penetration testing operations.

Download NodeZero from the official website

10. Pentoo

pentooPentoo is a Live CD and Live USB designed for penetration testing and security assessment. Based on Gentoo Linux, Pentoo is provided both as 32 and 64-bit installable LiveCD. Pentoo is also available as an overlay for an existing Gentoo installation. The Pentoo kernel includes security and PAX hardening and extra patches – with binaries compiled from a hardened toolchain with the latest nightly versions of some tools available.

Download Pentoo from the official website

11. BlackBuntu

blackbuntuBlackburn is penetration testing distribution with GNOME Desktop Environment which was specially designed for security training students and practitioners of information security. It’s currently  build using Ubuntu 10.10 and work on reference BackTrack.

Download BlackBuntu from the official website

12. Cyborg Hawk Linux

Cyborg Hawk LinuxCYBORG HAWK LINUX is a Ubuntu-based hacking operating system created by the team of Ztrela Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Cyborg Hawk penetration testing distro can use for network security and assessment and also for digital forensics. It has various tools also fit for Mobile Security and Wireless testing. It has 700+ tools while other penetration distros have 300+ and also dedicated tools for and menu for mobile security and malware analysis.

Download Cyborg Hawk Linux from the official website

13. Knoppix STD

Knoppix STDSTD is a Linux-based Security Tool used by hackers. Actually, it is a collection of hundreds if not thousands of open-source security tools. It’s a Live Linux distro and its sole purpose in life is to put as many security tools at your disposal with as slick an interface as it can. STD  means to be used by both novice and professional security personnel but is not ideal for the Linux uninitiate.

Download Knoppix STD from official website

14. Weakerthans

weakerthanWeakerthans is another hacking distribution that is built from Debian Squeeze. For the desktop environment, it uses Fluxbox. This ethical hacking OS is ideal for WiFi hacking as it contains plenty of Wireless tools. It has a very well-maintained website and a devoted community.

Download Weakerthan from the official website

15. BlackArch Linux

Favourite Operating Systems Of Hackers - BlackArch Linux

BlackArch Linux -an Arch Linux-based ethical hacking operating system for penetration testers and security researchers. The new version also has a total of 1400 penetration testing tools with the old ones updated and the new ones added, making it a must-have download for hackers and security researchers.

Download BlackArch Linux from the official website

16. Matriux Linux

Favourite Operating Systems Of Hackers - Matriux Linux

Matriux Linux – a Debian-based security distribution designed for penetration testing and hacking. Although suited best for hackers, it can also use by any Linux user as a desktop system for day-to-day computing. Matrix has more than 300 open source tools for penetration testing and hacking. Since it’s the new one, many security researchers claim that it is a better alternative to Kali Linux.

Download Matriux Linux from the official website

17. 1Dracos Linux

Dracos Linux - ethical hacking operating system

2Dracos Linux — another favorite operating system of hackers that surfaced from Indonesia built based on Linux from scratch. 2Dracos  build to be a fast, strong, and powerful OS that uses to perform security testing (penetration testing). Powered by hundreds of pentest tools including information gathering, forensics, malware analysis, maintaining access, and reverse engineering, 3Dracos Linux is one of the best choices for a hacker’s operating system.

Download Dracos Linux from the official website

18. 1Fedora Security Lab

Fedora Security Lab - ethical hacking os

2Fedora Security Lab comes with a clean and fast Xfce Desktop Environment and an essential set of tools like — Wireshark, Sqlninja, Yersinia, Medusa, etc — follow a proper test path for security and pen-testing. 3Fedora Security Lab maintains by a community of security testers and developers.

Download Fedora Security Lab from the official website

19. Caine

Caine - ethical hacking os

Caine — Computer-Aided Investigation Environment. An Ubuntu-based GNU/Linux live distribution created for ethical hackers and digital forensics experts. It provides a complete forensic environment with a friendly graphical interface.

Download Caine from the official website

20. ArchStrike

ArchStrike Linux - ethical hacking os

1ArchStrike, one of the perfect Arch Linux-based ethical hacking operating systems for security experts. 2ArchStrike provides a live desktop environment based on the Openbox window manager along with an extra repository of security software of 32-bit and 64-bit builds.

Download 3ArchStrike from the official website

21. URIX OS

URIX OS - ethical hacking os

UNIX OS is a security-focused ethical hacking distribution based on openSUSE. In URIX OS security strengthen by removing servers and closing incoming ports. The distro also provides several penetration tools for testing purposes.

Download UNIX OS from the official website

That’s all!! If you think we forget to add some other favorite operating systems of hackers, please comment below. And also soon we will add more ethical hacking operating systems to the list.

The article was originally published here.

To learn more about Ethical Hacking, please visit our website: techmistake.com.