First, a Vulnerability Assessment (VA) scans, identifies, and reports known weaknesses. It provides a report with the classification and priority of those discovered vulnerabilities. A Penetration Test (PA), on the other hand, aims to exploit vulnerabilities to determine the level of entry. It evaluates the degree of defense.
A VA is like walking up to a door, classifying it, and analyzing its possible weaknesses. A PT is like bringing chisels, lockpicks, or screwdrivers to work on those weaknesses. VA is usually automated, while a PT is performed by a security professional.
Here is our list of the best VAPT tools:
- Invicti Security Scanner – EDITOR’S CHOICE A robust vulnerability scanner and management solution tailored for enterprises. It can find and exploit weaknesses such as SQL injection and XSS. Download a free demo.
- Acunetix Scanner – GET DEMO A web app vulnerability scanner designed for SMBs, but can also scale for larger enterprises. It can identify SQL injection, XSS, or more. Get a free demo.
- CrowdStrike Penetration Testing Services – FREE TRIAL A consultancy service that performs white hat hacker attacks on your IT system from within your network and from external locations. Access Falcon Prevent on a 15-day free trial.
- Intruder An automated online web vulnerability assessment tool, that identifies a wide range of threats.
- Metasploit A robust framework with pre-packaged exploits code. It is supported by the Metasploit project with information on a massive number of vulnerabilities and their exploits.
- Nessus An open-source online vulnerability and configuration scanner for IT infrastructure.
- Burp Suite Pro A powerful bundle of tools for web app security, vulnerability scanning, and penetration testing.
- Aircrack -ng A set of wireless network security assessment tools, to monitor, scan, crack passwords, and attack.
- SQLMap An open-source penetration tool that specializes in exploiting SQL injection flaws.
- W3af A web application, attack, and audit framework. It identifies more than 200 web app vulnerabilities.
- Nikto A powerful vulnerability scanner for web apps, servers, and content management systems.
- Worthy Mentions Other tools that can help in the VAPT process: Nexpose, OpenVAS, Nmap, Wireshark, BeEF, and John the Ripper.
What is a VAPT Tool?
A VAPT tool performs a VA to identify vulnerabilities and a PT to leverage from those vulnerabilities to gain access. For example, a VA might help identify weak cryptography, but the PA will attempt to decode it.
The VAPT tools scan and identify vulnerabilities, generate a PA report, and in some cases execute code, or payloads. VAPT tools help achieve compliance like PCI-DSS, GDPR, and ISO27001.
The Best Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) Tools
Our methodology for selecting a vulnerability assessment and penetration testing tool
We reviewed the market for VAPT systems and analyzed options based on the following criteria:
- On-demand vulnerability scans
- Continuous testing option for ongoing vulnerability scanning
- The ability to alter test parameters and save the results
- Attack utilities that are linked to research tools
- Alert on detection of a security weakness
- A free trial or a demo that enables the system to be assessed before buying
- Value for money from a package that doubles up as a vulnerability scanner and a penetration testing tool
With these selection criteria in mind, we identified some interesting VAPT systems – some of the tools on the list are more for automated scanning, while others are suitable for manual penetration testing.
Source : PCWORLD
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