Whether you want to pursue a career in Information Security or you are already working as a security professional or if you are just interested in this specific field of knowledge, a decent Linux distro that suits your purpose is a must.
There are countless Linux distros for various purposes. Some are designed for specific tasks in mind and others are for different interfaces.
Best Linux hacking distributions
I have basically listed out various Linux distributions focusing on security. These Linux distros provide various tools that are needed for assessing networking security and other similar tasks. List is in no particular order.
Kali Linux is the most widely known Linux distro for ethical hacking and penetration testing. Kali Linux was developed by Offensive Security taking on the mantle of BackTrack.
Kali Linux
Kali Linux is based on Debian. It comes with a large amount of penetration testing tools from various fields of security and forensics. And now it follows the rolling release model, meaning every tool of your collection will always be up-to-date.
It is the most advanced penetration testing platform out there. It supports a wide range of devices and hardware platforms. Moreover, Kali Linux provides decent documentation and a large & active community.
BackBox is a Ubuntu-based distro developed for penetration testing and security assessment purpose. It is one of the best distro in its field.
BackBox has its own software repository providing latest stable versions of various system & network analysis toolkits and the best known ethical hacking tools. It is designed with minimalism in mind and uses XFCE desktop environment. It delivers a fast, effective, customizable and complete experience. It also has a very helpful community behind it.
Parrot Security OS is relatively new in the game. Frozenbox Network is behind the development of this distro. The target users of Parrot Security OS are penetration testers who need cloud friendly environment with online anonymity and encrypted system.
Parrot Security OS
Parrot Security OS is also based on Debian and uses MATE as its desktop environment. Almost every recognized tool for penetration testing is available here, along with some exclusive custom tools from Frozenbox Network. And yes, it is available as Rolling Release.
DEFT, short for Digital Evidence & Forensics Toolkit, Linux is a distribution made for Computer Forensics, with the purpose of running live system without corrupting or tampering devices connected to the PC where the booting takes place.
DEFT Linux
DEFT is paired with DART (Digital Advanced Response Toolkit), a Forensics system for Windows. It uses LXDE desktop environment and WINE for running Windows tools.
Samurai Web Testing Framework is developed with the sole purpose of penetration testing on web in mind. Another difference is that it comes as a Virtual Machine, supported by Virtualbox & VMWare.
Samurai Web Testing Framework
Samurai Web Testing Framework is based on Ubuntu and contains the best free and open source tools focusing on testing and attacking websites.
It also includes a pre-configured Wiki set up to store information during your penetration tests.
Pentoo is based on Gentoo Linux. It is a distro focused on security and penetration testing and is available as LiveCD with persistence support (means any changes made in the Live environment will be available on the next boot if you use a USB stick).
Pentoo
Pentoo is basically a Gentoo installation with lots of customized tools, kernel features and much more. It uses XFCE desktop environment.
Network Security Toolkit is a bootable Live ISO based on Fedora. It provides security professionals and network administrators with a wide range of open source network security tools.
Network Security Toolkit
Network Security Toolkit has an advanced Web User Interface for system/network administration, navigation, automation, network monitoring & analysis and configuration of many applications found in Network Security Toolkit distro.
Fedora Security Spin is a variation of Fedora designed for security auditing and testing and it can also be used for teaching purpose.
Fedora Security Spin
The purpose of this distro is to support students and teachers while they are practicing or learning security methodologies on information security, web application security, forensics analysis and so on.
Bugtraq is a Linux distro with a huge range of penetration, forensic and laboratory tools.
Bugtraq
Bugtraq is available with XFCE, GNOME and KDE desktop environments based on Ubuntu, Debian and OpenSUSE. It is also available in 11 different languages.
Bugtraq packs a huge arsenal of penetration testing tools – mobile forensics, malware testing laboratories along with tools specifically designed by the Bugtraq-Community.
ArchStrike (previously known as ArchAssault) is a project based on Arch Linux for penetration testers and security professionals.
ArchStrike (previously ArchAssault)
It comes with all the best things of Arch Linux with additional tools for penetration testing and cyber security. ArchStrike includes thousands of tools and applications, all categorized into modular package groups.
Because networks can be extremely complicated, with multiple protocols and diverse technologies, Cisco has developed a layered hierarchical model for designing a reliable network infrastructure. This three-layer model helps you design, implement, and maintain a scalable
Access Control List or ACL is a technic of controling network traffic. It is a list of rules with which traffic flow can be manipulated - permitted or denied. By default, traffic flow from the interface with the higher security level (for example "inside" interface) to interface with the lower security level (example "outside" interface) is allowed by default, but the flow of traffic from "outside" to the "inside" interface must be explicitly permited.
TCP/IP defines five classes of IP addresses: class A, B, C, D, and E. Each class has a range of valid IP addresses. The value of the first octet determines the class. IP addresses
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