Notable Penetration Test Linux distributions of 2014

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Notable Penetration Test Linux distributions of 2014

A penetration test, or the short form pentest, is an attack on a computer system with the intention of finding security weaknesses, potentially gaining access to it, its functionality and data. A Penetration Testing Linux is a special built Linux distro that can be used for analyzing and evaluating security measures of a target system.
There are several operating system distributions, which are geared towards performing penetration testing. Distributions typically contains pre-packaged and pre-configured set of tools. This is useful because the penetration tester does not have to hunt down a tool when it is required. This may in turn lead to further complications such as compile errors, dependencies issues, configuration errors, or simply acquiring additional tools may not be practical in the tester’s context.
Popular examples are Kali Linux (replacing Backtrack as of December 2012) based on Debian Linux, Pentoo based on Gentoo Linux and BackBox based on Ubuntu Linux. There are many other specialized operating systems for penetration testing, each more or less dedicated to a specific field of penetration testing.

Penetration tests are valuable for several reasons:

1. Determining the feasibility of a particular set of attack vectors
2. Identifying higher-risk vulnerabilities that result from a combination of lower-risk vulnerabilities exploited in a particular sequence
3. Identifying vulnerabilities that may be difficult or impossible to detect with automated network or application vulnerability scanning software
4. Assessing the magnitude of potential business and operational impacts of successful attacks
5. Testing the ability of network defenders to successfully detect and respond to the attacks
6. Providing evidence to support increased investments in security personnel and technology

The new pentest distroes are developed and maintained with user friendliness in mind, so anyone with basic Linux usage knowledge can use them. Tutorials and HOW TO articles are available for public usages (rather than kept in closed community). The idea that pentest distroes are mainly used by network and computer security experts, security students and audit firms doesn’t apply anymore, everyone want’s to test their own network, Wireless connection, Website, Database and I must say most of the distribution owners are making it really easy and offering training for interested ones.
Now lets have a look at some of the best pentest distroes of 2014, some are well maintained, some are not, but either way they all offer great package list to play with:



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