18 min read

The security of your network and computer system has become a critical issue. In the present era, where hacking is at its peak, it is essential to use cyber security tools to make your network of IT systems safer and secure. I know that online businesses have become very vulnerable and risky because of the threats and uncertainty of their online presence. Network security is a complex task and you may need some effective and smart cybersecurity tools for monitoring the IT systems and network. In this article, I am going to share with you some of the most effective and beneficial software tools that you can use to ensure the security of your computer system and make your online presence more protected.

You have to monitor your system and network daily because security is a consistent task and you have to be very careful about it. There are many online network security tools available that you can use to protect your system from hackers and ensure security. If you are an online business and want to expand your business then you should not compromise on security and use some strong and effective software tools to secure your network against viruses, attacks, hackers, etc.

There are some of the most effective and smart tools that you can use to make your network secure and safe. The tools I am sharing with you would not just make your network secure but allow you to maintain security by spending less time and effort.

Solarwinds Security

The Solarwinds is the best security tool for the small to large businesses. You can get 14 days of free trials of this software. It is a host and network intrusion detection system. It also does real-time responding, reporting, and monitoring of security-related issues. This software tool has vastly indexed log search competencies. It is one of the best cloud-based and scalable network security monitoring tools. In this system, threat intelligence will be updated continuously. It offers an inclusive set of united reporting tools to users. Solarwinds Security also has Event Manager and Security Information features. It offers a Log event and Log correlation archive. The starting package of this software is $4500.

Tcpdump 

Tcpdump is a software security tool and a unique packet sniffer. It was first released in 1987, and it has been upgraded and maintained but remains fundamentally unaffected, it the way to use it. It is open-source software that comes pre-installed in nearly all Linux operating systems and it has to turn out to be the standard software for rapid packet capture. This software is open-source and uses the libpcap library for packet capture.

Snort 

Snort has three operation modes: packet logger, sniffer, and network intrusion detection. In the packet logger mode, the packets are logged to disk. The function of the sniffer mode is to read the network packets and show them on screen. I found the intrusion detection mode most interesting of all. The tool screens the traffic of the network and examines it in contrast to a ruleset defined by the user. Many actions can then be carried out based on what security threat has been recognized. This security software can be used to identify many types of attacks or probes, with semantic URL attacks, operating system fingerprinting attempts, stealth port scans server message block probes, and buffer overflows.

Mimecast

It is one of the best options for small to large businesses. The starting price of this software is $3.05 per month for threat protection and email security. It is a cloud-based solution that offers cyber resilience and email security. It offers numerous services and products such as Information protection, Cloud Archiving, Email security, Web security, etc. Email Security with threat protection defends from impersonation, ransomware, spear-phishing, and some other targeted attacks. Get email security and cyber resilience with the Mimecast platform. It offers web safety by blocking malicious websites and shielding against user-initiated spiteful malware & web activity. Mimecast also provides data loss prevention and automated Content Control. It offers a Cloud Archiving ability to securely archive data, emails, and files.

Aircrack-ng

Aircrack-ng is a complete group of utilities for examining the deficiencies in a WiFi network. The software allows you to screen your WiFi network security by capturing data packets and transferring them to text files for additional study. You can validate the WiFi card’s performance via injection and capture. Significantly, if you want to measure the dependability of your WPA-PSK and WEP keys, you can also use this tool to crack them.

CIS

It is one of the best network security tools for small to large businesses. CIS is an abbreviation for Center for Internet Security. There are CIS RAM, CIS CSAT, CIS Controls, CIS-CAT Lite, and CIS Benchmarks available that are free for everyone. You can get the CIS SecureSuite on a paid subscription. CIS Services and CIS Hardened Images are accessible for Pay peruse. This tool also offers various cyber security tools, memberships, and services. It offers CIS SecureSuite to be used commercially. This tool’s Security suite will comprise CIS Benchmarks and CIS controls.

For your organization’s safeguarding, it provides a diversity of products such as CIS-CAT Lite, CIS Controls, CIS CSAT, CIS RAM, etc. It offers 24/7 Incident Response Services and a Security Operations Center. The CIS-CAT Lite performs an automatic assessment. This software also offers tools such as CIS-CAT Pro, CIS-CAT Lite, CIS RAM, CIS Workbench, and CIS CSAT to its customers.

Hoping

This helpful minimal utility compiles and sends custom ICMP, UDP, or TCP bundles and afterward shows any answers. It was propelled by the ping direction, however, offers undeniably more power over the tests sent. It additionally has a convenient traceroute mode and supports IP fragmentation. Hping is especially helpful when attempting to traceroute/ping/test behind a firewall that blocks attempts utilizing the standard utilities. This regularly enables you to outline firewall rule sets. It is likewise extraordinary for becoming familiar with TCP/IP and exploring different avenues regarding IP conventions. Tragically, it has not been modified since 2005.

Wireshark

This software is the most suitable option for government agencies, non-profit enterprises, and educational organizations. It is an open license and free-to-use network security software to protect your website or network. This network protocols analyzer supports Mac, Windows, FreeBSD, Linux, NetBSD Solaris, etc. This computer security tool uses a three-pane packet browser. It can do both offline analysis and live capture. Wireshark accomplishes a detailed inspection of many platforms. It can expand the files that get from the gzip. It also offers strong display filters and supports numerous decryption protocols.

John the Ripper

Openwall is devised to distinguish frail passwords rapidly. At first, it was developed for Unix environments, it presently works with Windows, OpenVMS, and DOS frameworks. John searches for regular hash-type passcodes complex figures and encoded logins. The community of Openware systems persistently gives fixes and updates as security and password technology advances. Clients can access a standard wordlist for more than 20 dialects that regularly show up in passwords, in addition to assortments that remember words and letters for a few dialects.

Nmap Project made and looks after Nping, a comparative program with progressively present-day highlights, for example, IPv6 support, and an extraordinary eco mode.

Gnupg

It is a network security monitoring tool that you can use online free of cost. Small to large size of businesses can use this software. GnuPG is a network security tool for signing and encryption of communications and data. It supports Mac, Linux, and Windows platforms and has a useful key management system. It can be simply united with other systems. Here all kinds of public key directories have access modules. GnuPG networking security software also supports Secure Shell and S/MIME.

Cain and Abel

Anybody dealing with network security identifies that in free security apps, UNIX is inclined to lead the way. Mac and Windows users will get the ports late.

Though, Cain and Abel tool is a password recovery tool for the Window that leads the pack. It can record the conversations of VoIP; it can interpret complex passwords and investigate routing protocols. It reveals password boxes, exposes cached passwords, cracks encryption with cryptanalysis and brute force attacks, and so on. Virtually a must-have starting point for packet sniffing routines

SSH

An SSH or (Secure Shell) is now a pervasive program for signing into or executing directions on a remote gadget. It gives securely encoded correspondences between two untrusted hosts over an unreliable system, changing the repulsively shaky telnet/login/rsh options. Most UNIX clients operate the OpenSSH which is an open-source server. Windows clients regularly lean toward the free PuTTY customer, which is likewise accessible for some cell phones, and WinSCP. Different Windows clients are inclined toward the pleasant terminal-based port of OpenSSH that accompanies Cygwin. There are many other free and exclusive customers to consider.

Norton Security

With this software tool, you can get 30 days of the free trial of its anti-virus. The starting price of the system for the anti-virus is $5.99 per month. This information security tool offers an effective security solution via Norton 360 with LifeLock. The business provides solutions for cybersecurity software, for example, Virus Removal, Antivirus, Secure VPN, Cloud Backup, Malware Protection, and Password Manager. It provides five-layer security for blocking and recognizing threats. Norton Password Manager is a smart, simple, and secure solution for the management of the password. This software antivirus can guard against viruses, ransomware, malware, spyware, and other cyber issues. It provides services for cloud backup that can protect and store documents and files. It also offers a secure Norton VPN to the users.

P0f

Despite its lack of updates, the P0f is still a well-known tool of security. The package of this software hardly changed in a decade since was perfect when it was released for the first time. Efficient and streamlined, P0f produces no added traffic. This tool can also be used to classify the operating system of the host to communicate with it. Numerous cyber security tools in this group create assorted queries name lookups, probes, and so on. All in all, it is light, clean-running and fast. For the advanced users it’s a must-have, but learning this tool can be a bit hard for you.

Nagios

Nagios screens systems, networks, and hosts, delivering real-time warnings. Users can recognize, what are the notifications they have to receive. The package can examine network services, as well as NNTP, HTTP, POP3, ICMP, and SMTP, among others. Nagios is also a big name in the monitoring of traffic. A complete, all-bases-covered method for the security management of the network. The most influential free software for small businesses and cybersecurity professionals alike.

Netstumbler

It is an open-source and Free Windows-based security software for users. An essential tool for wardriving, identifying the points of open access in a wireless network. The tool is based on Windows, and there is no source code available. Having the ability to change and edit the open-source code is very dangerous for security. This tool’s active WAP-seeking method makes it very famous, however. You can say that NetStumbler is recognized for vulnerability detection that many of the other tools for security scanning don’t have.

KisMAC

It is free software for Mac and it is also available for users, who don’t have a lot of experience. The Kismet’s Mac OS X port, with a very diverse codebase. KisMAC outshines penetration and mapping testing with attacks of de-authentication.

Bluvector

For medium to large size of organizations, it is the best option available in the market. To get the pricing details of this software, you can get a quote. This network security management software offers real-time detection of the threat. This Network Intrusion Detection System is built on Machine Learning, speculative code execution, and Artificial Intelligence. Threats like ransomware and Zero-day malware can be confined, detected, and analyzed in real time. Bluvector offers real-time advanced detection for threats. BluVector can respond to file-based and file-less malware. This software is composed of 3 mechanisms i.e. Connectors Framework AI-based Detection Engines and Intelligent Decision Support. So, it can be said that BluVector is an AI-driven platform for security management.

Webroot

This tool is good for both individuals and small to large businesses. You can get the Webroot Antivirus (for Mac and PC) just at $29.99 per year, for one device. You can get Internet Security Plus which is for Mac, PC, tablets, and smartphones at $44.99 per year, for 3 devices. It also comes with a storage of 25 GB. It may cost you $59.99 every year for 5 devices. Webroot is said to be a cloud-based podium. It can defend PCs, mobile devices, and Mac computers and offers a solution for home offices, home use, partners, and businesses. Webroot supports Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, platforms. It offers real-time protection for security threats. It offers threat intelligence services based on the cloud. The networks and endpoints will be secured by using multi-vector protection. These cyber security tools also provide predictive threat intelligence to its users.

Bitdefender Total Security

You can use this network security tool for small to large businesses. This tool is available for $42.99. you can also download it for 5 devices for $24.99 per year. Before buying the package, you can get 30 days of free trial for Bitdefender Total Security.

To offer personal information and online privacy, Bitdefender Total Security delivers the features of social network protection, file shredder, safe online banking, vulnerability assessment, privacy firewall, etc. It offers 24/7 complete support to the customers in case of any technical issue. It also contains features for Anti-Theft and Anti-Phishing. This security tool also provides multi-layer ransomware safety with ransomware remediation. You can get the features for advanced threat defense and real-time data protection. It has features for Anti-Fraud, Rescue Mode, and Web Attack Prevention.

Nmap

The Nmap is an effective security platform that can be used for the scanning of large platforms as well as single hosts. It is also free and open-source software. Nmap is a port network security monitoring software and scanning tool. It is used for security auditing and network discovery and also for managing service upgrades and Network Inventory schedules. It will support you with service uptime or monitoring hosts. Nmap has a GUI and a command-line interface. You can also scan huge networks by using this software. Nmap security tool is used for security auditing and network discovery. It supports cross-platform and offers various advanced methods of security protection. Nmap is a flexible, powerful, free, and easy tool with support for numerous devices for port scanning.

Splunk

This tool is designed for both historical data searches and real-time analysis. Splunk is said to be a versatile and fast network monitoring software. It is a very user-friendly tool with a combined interface. The Splunk’s search function makes monitoring of the application easier. It is a paid application with some free versions. The use of free versions is very limited. This is an outstanding tool but you need a good budget to afford it and work on it. Independent workers are more careful about the best tools they purchase. So, it can be said that although the cost of the tool is high still the features it is offering to the users is worth your money.  It is recommended that any professional for data security with a sufficient client base must spend in Splunk.

Tor

The popularity of this software increased when the “dark web” became a hot topic for people a few years back. We all know how dangerous the dark web and all the hype about the dark web is a truth.  It is only a tool to guarantee your privacy over the Internet. The system routes need to proxy web servers for privacy and it also makes the users difficult to track. Though there are spiteful exit nodes used for traffic sniffing, this is not an important concern with cautious usage. The applications of the Tor’s in InfoSec are plentiful as compared with the cybercrime applications.

Acunetix

There is continuously legitimate terror that hackers may cause damage to your business directly via your internal or firewall threat engineering.

Less consideration is specified to the web-based applications security risks like login pages, shopping carts, or online forms. Acunetix helps businesses set up defenses for about 4,500 security threats to these kinds of sites and applications, for example, SQL injections.

Nessus

It is a common paid-for network security audit tool for scanning susceptibilities in a network or computing system. It is remarkably easy to use, provides accurate and fast scanning, and can offer you a complete stance of your network’s deficiencies at the button click. Nessus tool scans for loopholes in your it infrastructure.

This IT security software scans for ambiguities that attackers may cause harm to your IT set-up. Some of the weaknesses it recognizes include open ports, misconfiguration errors, and improper passwords.

KeePass

This tool is used to manage your identity, it is needed for many office settings. You can also think of it as a simple and basic password management system. Using this software, you can access all accounts using only one password. Uniting suitability with security, this tool allows users to set exclusive passwords for all of their accounts with a function of auto-fill when they insert the master password. If you have worked with InfoSec for even a day, you may know how significant this can be. More often a security issue arises just because of the poor management of passwords. This tool is also used by the network security officers to control and manage the job human element.

TrueCrypt

This is one of the popular software for management of the security even though it has not been updated for years. It was developed in 2014 and it was perfect that no updates are required.so, you can say that the TrueCrypt is an outdated tool but still, it is a strong tool. A disk encryption system, TrueCrypt permits for incrusted encryption of content with 2 access control tiers. The best thing about this software is that it is free, open software, and powerful. It is very easy to understand why TrueCrypt is popular, even if it is not updated for almost four years. Seeing all the competencies of this tool, there is no doubt that it is one of the best open-source security programs available in the market.

GFI LanGuard

GFI LanGuard comprises continuous scanning, patching, and monitoring. This tool for network security is so famous and valuable that putting it through a system can support a company in determining security compliance. It offers network and software auditing as required for weak areas in mobile devices or desktops, and mechanically creates patches for Windows, Linux, and Mac systems.

Metasploit

It is one of the popular collections of numerous penetration cybersecurity tools. IT experts and Cybersecurity professionals have been using it for many years to achieve many objectives, including managing security evaluations, formulating defense methodologies, and discovering vulnerabilities. Metasploit is a well-known tool among cybersecurity professionals and IT experts.

You can use this software tool on online-based applications, networks, servers, and some other places. If any security exploit or weakness is reported, this software helps to eliminate the security issue. If you are required to assess your infrastructure security against older weaknesses, Metasploit will be enough to handle it all.

Nikto

Nikto is an open-source network security software. It can carry out a complete test array in contradiction of web servers, testing for numerous stuff over 6700 possibly unsafe programs and files. The software will also be monitored for out-of-date versions of around 1250 servers, and recognize issues related to the version on around 270 servers. It can monitor the configuration items of the server, for example, the multiple index files presence, and HTTP server options, and will try to categorize installed software and web servers.

Kismet 

Kismet is known as a packet sniffer, intrusion detection system, and network detector for wireless LANs. It can function with a wireless card that supports a raw mode of monitoring and can sniff 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11n, and 802.11b traffic. The software can run under FreeBSD, Linux, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and OS X. There is little support for Windows mostly because there is one wireless network connecter for the Windows supports monitoring mode.

Ettercap

Ettercap is a shield for someone who is in the center of assaults on the local area network. It highlights the sniffing of live associations, content separating on the fly, and numerous other intriguing stunts. It bolsters dynamic and detached analyzation of numerous conventions (even figured ones) and incorporates many elements for system and host examination.

W3af

W3af is an incredibly prevalent, amazing, and adaptable system for finding and eliminating web application vulnerabilities. It is anything but difficult to utilize and broaden and includes many web evaluation and misuse modules. It resembles a web-centred Metasploit.

Scapy

Scapy is a ground-breaking intuitive network scanner, manipulation tool, packet generator, packet sniffer, and network discovery tool. Note that Scapy is a low-level device — you interface with it utilizing the Python programming language. It gives classes to intelligently make packets or sets of packets, control them, send them over the wire, sniff different parcels from the wire, coordinate replies and answers, and a lot more.

Burp Suite

Burp Suite is an extensively used tool for examining the web-based application’s security. It contains numerous tools that can be used to perform various security tests, with plotting the application’s attack surface, examine responses and requests occurring among the destination servers and browsers, and automatically crawling the web applications.

This network security auditing software has two varieties: the professional version and the free version. The free version has important manual tools for performing the scanning. You can also buy the professional version of this software tool if you require high-level web penetration testing competencies.

GFI LanGuard

The GFI Languard is an information security software that claims to be the ultimate IT security tool for business. It is a software that can support you to scan the computer networks for automating patching, and vulnerabilities, and achieve submission. The tool not only helps server operating systems and desktops but also iOS or Android. This software is a wonderful solution to many security issues and a threat to businesses. It can do around sixty thousand tests for vulnerability and guarantees the security of your devices and make sure they are updated with the new updates and patches.

Retina

The Retina is a software product for scanning network vulnerabilities, it is from AboveTrust and is also the best-known scanner for the vulnerability. It is also known as the fully-featured software that can perform a valuation of non-secure configuration, zero-day vulnerabilities, missing patches, and other vulnerabilities. The software claims an instinctive user interface. Also., the user profiles corresponding to numerous job functions shorten the system operation.

Forcepoint

The SD-WAN of the Forcepoint network security tool can be modified to restrict the access of the users to some content, and also delay some of the intrusion exploits and attempts. The Admins of this software can rapidly see movement on all systems and can rapidly take some action about it, rather than taking time to discover the issues and problems. The solution is mainly for clients in business, who deal with the cloud and they can block the risky servers or warn the users about them. It can offer extra security and higher access levels for the areas that are more critical.

Nexpose

The Nexpose security software from Rapid7 is one of the top-rated securities and vulnerability management software. It works as a scanner for the vulnerability that supports the complete lifecycle of vulnerability management. It will control the recognition, verification, detection, impact analysis, risk classification, reporting, and mitigation of the weakness of the system. User communication is controlled through the web interface. Feature-wise, it is the product. Some most stimulating features of this tool include VMware NSX virtual scanning and Amazon AWS dynamic discovery. This product can do the scanning for many settings and can increase to a limitless IP address. With all of its rapid deployment features, it is a winning product. You can also get this product from the free community edition but this edition is available with fewer features. There are many commercial versions of this software available that start at $2,000 per annum.

OSSEC

The OSSEC is open-source security software that stands for Open Source Security, it is a host intrusion detection system. Opposing to network IDS, it directly runs on the hosts it defends. Trend Micro is a company that owns this software, so it is a reliable name in IT security. The main focus of the tool is configuration and log files on Linux hosts. In the case of Windows, it monitors the registry for suspicious activities and illegal modifications. 

OpenVAS

The OpenVAS also known as the Open Vulnerability Assessment System, is a set of tools that provides complete scanning for the vulnerability. Its fundamental framework is an element of the vulnerability management solution of Greenbone Networks. This tool is completely free and most of its elements are open-source though a few features are paid and exclusive. The software has around 15 thousand vulnerability tests for the network that are updated regularly. There are 2 main mechanisms to the OpenVAS. First, there is a scanner that controls the target computer scanning. The other software element is the manager. It handles the consolidating results, and scanner, and saves them in the main SQL database. The configuration parameters tools are also stored in the database.

Paros Proxy

The Paros Proxy is a web proxy based on Java and comprises some of the most useful cyber security tools for security test execution. These contain a traffic recorder, a web spider, and a scanner for vulnerability. Outstanding for sensing network intrusion openings to the mutual threats with cross-site scripting and SQL injection attack detection.

It is very easy to manage with even basic HTTP/HTTPS or Java knowledge. Anyone who can make a web app can make changes in the Paros Proxy. It is a smart and effective network protection software testing tool for recognizing a risk to security before it grows into a security breach.

Kali Linux

This is one of the best network security software that provides a security auditing operating toolkit and system that holds around 300 methods to ensure your Linux servers and sites stay secure and protected from attack. This software is maintained and funded by Offensive Security which moderates and operates an active community of users and a wide database of exploits and threats. Part of this knowledge base comprises pen test certification and a free online course known as Metasploit Unleashed. This software toolkit is particularly made for all security skill levels and IT pros.

Conclusion

 In this article, I have shared with you some of the most beneficial and successful tools and software to manage network security. Some of the tools are free to use and for some of them, you have to buy a package annually or monthly. The free version of the software tools offers fewer features as compared with the commercial and paid versions of the software. Each tool mentioned in this article has some limitations and efficiencies. In this article, I have mentioned some of the most prominent features and functionalities of cyber security tools so you can make a better decision about your security tool selection. There are numerous online companies available that offer different security tools, you can get a good and effective tool for your system or network by just doing a little research.

I know that online businesses have become very susceptible and dangerous because of the threats and ambiguity of their online presence. You have to screen your system and network regularly because security is a constant task and you have to be very cautious about it. If you are doing online business and willing to expand your business then you must not compromise on safety and security and use some effective and strong software tools to protect your network against viruses, hackers, attackers, etc.

 I hope the information shared in this article is helpful.  If you have any questions regarding the security of your network, you can ask me in the comments section.