Data security in the digital age is becoming a critical concern for everyone. Cybersecurity must be prioritized, and cyber security tools provide methods and practices to protect data from attacks. Unfortunately, three billion phishing emails are sent daily with malicious intent to steal sensitive information; hence, having effective monitoring tools is essential in order to safeguard valuable information.
Did you know that by 2020, cybersecurity costs had reached an eye-watering 1 trillion dollars, having a massive effect on the global economy? Protecting data is paramount, especially when it comes to online banking, e-commerce and confidential business information.
Individuals looking for personal safety or businessmen guarding their company’s secrets alike should recognize the significance of using cybersecurity assessment tools. Don’t leave your data vulnerable; take necessary measures today and protect it from prying eyes!
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What Are Cyber Security Tools?
Cybersecurity tools are necessary to protect your organization from unauthorized access. Cybersecurity is the method that protects your personal information or company’s data from cyber attacks.
Nowadays, cybersecurity has become a top priority for organizations to protect their confidential data. Nowadays to manage every project we need to have proper documentation and cybersecurity softwares to protect that data.
Why Is CyberSecurity Important?
Cybersecurity is necessary if you want to keep your data private. Let’s discuss the importance of cybersecurity through some statistics. According to a research done by Mimecast:
- There is about a 26% rise in ransomware. It’s basically a software that limits the user’s access to their computer until they pay money to the hacker.
- Many organizations have reported that there is an increase in impersonation fraud by 67%.
- 88% of companies reported email-based spoofing. It means that they received some kind of threats through an unknown and a fake sender.
According to another research there were about 5,258 publicly disclosed data breaches. This lead to the exposing of about 8 billion records in 2020.
According to another research that was done by Norton:
- Public Wi-Fi is another issue that makes your data vulnerable. It’s easy for hackers to attack your computer.
- Although 73% of people know the risks of using public wifi still about 54% of users use public wifi.
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8 Best Cyber Security Tools
There are many best open source tools available that can protect your data. In the article you will find different paid, best open source cybersecurity tools, free cyber security tools for protecting your data.
Also consider Cyber Resilience when selecting cyber security tools. Cyber Resilience means to do a lot of effort to stop the attacks. And minimizing the effect in case there are any successful attacks. Some of the best cybersecurity risk assessment tools are as follows:
SiteLock
Sitelock is a cybersecurity tool whose function is to protect your website against different malwares. It also stops the spams and hacker attempts to hack your computer. The website is designed to protect the websites from different types of online attacks and threats.
Features
Some of the features of SiteLock are as follows:
- Has a strong firewall known as Web Application Firewall (WAF) which protects the websites from SQL injections or threats or cross-site scripting (XSS).
- Paid software but offers a 30 days free trial version
- DDoS protection defends websites against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks
- Scans the websites for malware detections, threats and other suspicious activities. The issues are also resolved automatically.
- A variety of CMS environments are supported using Drupal, Magento, WordPress, WooCommerce, and more.
- Availability is 24 hours through calls, messages or by live chat.
- Has a content delivery network that enables high traffic efficiently and with zero lag time
- The tool performs daily vulnerability assessment scans to rule out any threats or weaknesses possible.
- A website’s reputation is also monitored by SiteLock. It also notifies the website owners if their website is blocked by anti virus softwares or search engines.
- Provides a PCI certification seal that is displayed on the screen
Kali Linux
Kali Linux is one of the most popular cyber security tools that is being used for protection against cyber attacks. The tool is a Debian-based Linux distribution that consists of a different range of tools that are used for security purposes. Some of the features of Kali Linux are as follows:
Features
- The tool was developed by an information security company known as Offensive Security
- Easy tool to use even for the beginners.
- Consists of more than 600 600 penetration testing tools that are pre installed. The tools include Wireshark, Metasploit, Nmap, and John the Ripper.
- Users can monitor network of the company’s security systems through a single click
- The tool was designed for penetration testing and digital forensic.
- Kali Linux supports multiple platforms that includes Raspberry Pi, laptops, desktops, and virtual machines.
- Provides a customization desktop that allows the user to modify the system according to their needs and requirements.
- Kali Linux is a free software that is available for everyone. It is an open source project that can be downloaded and accessed anywhere
- Can be connected with USB or various wireless devices.
- Its vulnerability scanner and can identify potential threats and issues.
Metasploit
Metasploit is a tool that is being used to protect operating systems from different threats and vulnerabilities. The tool is an intrusion detection system and is used for carrying out different penetration testing exercises. Some of the features of metasploit are as follows:
Features
- Discovers vulnerabilities in a system or network and identifies threats. This helps ensure round clock security.
- Testing web applications, including SQL injection and cross site scripting (XSS) attacks.
- Improves company’s cybersecurity defenses
- Supports a range of operating systems including Windows, Linux, and Mac.
- Provides the users a collection of post-exploitation modules. These modules can be used to gather information about the target system
- The tool is used to ensure IT infrastructure security.
- Easy to use interface with extensive features
- Users can collaborate and share information with their team members on the same project.
- Users can develop their exploits or customize the existing ones
Wireshark
Formerly a software known as Ethereal. It is one of the console based cybersecurity tools. The tool is helpful for increasing the security and protecting the systems from malwares. It is a popular open source network protocol analyzer. Some of the features of wireshark are as follows:
- The tool is a packet sniffer that is used by professionals for analyzing network security and protocols in real time.
- Can be extended through the use of plugins
- Gives the necessary information regarding network traffic at different levels.
- Supports a wide range of network protocols, including UDP, HTTP,TCP, DNS, DHCP.
- Allows the customization of different features and user interface to meet the needs and requirements of users.
- The tool is used by professionals to capture and investigate the characteristics of those data packets.
- Can also decode and display the contents of data packets
John The Ripper
If you want to check the strength of your password then John The Ripper tool is for you. It is a vital tool that immediately checks whether your password is weak or not. Some of the features of John The Ripper are as follows:
- Works on multiple types of operating systems and hardware that includes Windows, DOS, OpenVMS systems. However in the beginning the tool was only used for the UNIX platform.
- Identifies passwords that could be a threat for security.
- The tool is an open source password recovery and password security auditing tool.
- Continuous updation and improvements are done to ensure accurate penetrating results.
- Works by searching the encrypted login credentials, hashtag like passwords and complex ciphers to identify weak passwords.
- One of the most ideal and best choice of cyber security professionals for enhancing their passwords strength.
Tcpdump
An important and handy tool if you want to sniff data packets in a network. The tool works under a command like interface. Some of the main features of Tcpdump tool are as follows:
- Analyzes network traffic by intercepting and displaying packets.
- Helps in logging and monitoring of TCP/IP traffic that is shared over the network.
- Command based software that analyzes the traffic between the computer it is executed and on the network through which it passes through.
- Captures or filters the TCP/IP data traffic on a particular interface.
- Network security is also tested by segregating the TCP/IP data traffic that is received through the internet.
- By using different formats the contents of network traffic can also be described.
NetStumbler
NetSlumber is a cybersecurity tool that is specifically designed for Windows operating systems. The tool is used for various purposes. Some of the main features of NetStumbler are as follows:
- Use to recognize open network ports
- Extremely useful for wardriving purposes
- No provision of source codes as the tool was developed for Windows.
- Tests the connectivity of wireless devices. Perform active scanning of wireless networks to determine the availability of access points.
- Can be integrated with GPS devices
- Has a user friendly interface
- NetSlumber is a versatile tool as it is compatible with a wide range of wireless network cards.
- Free and an unpaid tool that is freely available and accessible everywhere
Nexpose
Nexpose is a cyber security tool that scans and manages weaknesses in on-premise infrastructure. It helps organizations identify, prioritize and minimize risks. Some of the features of Nexpose are as follows:
- Helps detect vulnerabilities and identify risks.
- Can identify and classify assets
- Risks can be identified according to the levels. It assigns a risk score to weaknesses it finds.
- Helps in a coordinated response to multiple vulnerabilities.
- Presents security teams with live views
Conclusion
To summarize, if an organization wants to survive in this modern world where data leakage is always an issue they need to have strong cyber security tools. Protecting against cyber threats should be the top most priority of any organization.
But these firewalls and tools are the way to protect your data from unauthorized access or cyberattacks. If an organization has effective cybersecurity measures in place then it’s easy to protect themselves from the data breaches. Organizations can minimize the ever growing threats of cybercrime.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Q No.1 How does cyber security work?
Answer: Cybersecurity refers to the practice of protecting computer systems and data from unauthorized access, theft, damage, or disruption.
Q No.2 What are the top 5 cyber security technologies?
Answer: The five important cybersecurity technologies are:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
- Endpoint Security
- Cloud Security
- Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR)
Q No.3 What is the first rule of cyber security?
Answer: The first rule of cybersecurity, often referred to as the “first principle,” is to ensure strong and unique passwords for all accounts and systems.
Q No.4 What is the aim of cyber security?
Answer: The aim of cybersecurity is to protect computer systems, and digital assets from unauthorized access, theft, or disruption caused by cyber threats and attacks.
Q No.5 What are the 4 modules of cyber security?
Answer: These four modules represent key areas of focus in cybersecurity strategies. They are:
- Threat Intelligence
- Vulnerability Management
- Incident Response
- Security Operations
Q No.6 What are the 4 Ps of cyber security?
Answer: The 4 Ps of cybersecurity are:
- People
- Processes
- Policies
- Technology
Q No.7 Who introduced cyber security?
Answer: Cybersecurity was introduced by numerous individuals in the early 1970s. Notable contributors to the field include Whitfield Diffie, Martin Hellman, Dorothy Denning, Bruce Schneier, and many others.
Q No.8 What is the advantage of cyber security?
Answer: Some key advantages of cybersecurity are:
- Protection against Cyber Threats
- Safeguarding Sensitive Data
- Business Continuity and Productivity
- Compliance with Regulations
- Protection of Reputational Assets
- Competitive Advantage
- Trust and Customer Confidence
Q No.9 What is the life cycle of cyber security?
Answer: The life cycle of cybersecurity includes the following phases:
- Assess
- Plan
- Implement
- Monitor
- Respond
- Improve
