9 Best Network Security Tools For 2022?

What’s the best network security tool to secure your business or home network to ensure that sensitive data isn't being breached? There are hundreds of different tools out there... What makes one better than another?

Network Security has become a very important aspect of our day-to-day lives. As more devices connect to the Internet, the risk of theft, tampering, or unauthorized access to personal information increases drastically. Network security solutions are designed to prevent these risks from occurring. By using effective security solutions, businesses and individuals minimize the number of risks associated with their networks.

As network security becomes more complex, choosing the appropriate solution for your network can often be challenging. This guide focuses on 10 network security tools and software in the market today.

1. Wireshark

Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) is a free network protocol analyzer developed by Gerald Combs and released under GNU GPL. It provides packet capture capability at layer 2 of the OSI model, including IP, Ethernet, ARP, ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc., as well as various control protocols. Wireshark provides real-time packet capture from network interfaces.

2. John the ripper

John the Ripper (JtR) is an open-source password cracker created in 1996. JtR was originally written to test Unix passwords. The goal was to find weak login passwords based on dictionary attacks. The project continues today to maintain the original goals while improving performance and adding features.

3. Kali Linux

Kali is a penetration testing distribution based on Debian GNU used by organizations to scan IT systems and networks for vulnerabilities. It includes tools for security auditing, network analysis, reverse engineering, and forensics.

4. Cain & Abel

Cain & Abel is a powerful open-source vulnerability scanning solution. It uses dynamic, automated penetration testing techniques to identify vulnerabilities in an organization’s computer networks. It is ideal for those seeking to perform ethical hacking.

5. Metasploit

Metasploitable is a vulnerable virtual machine designed for penetration testing. It comes preinstalled with several different targets. These include web applications, mail servers, databases, file shares, and much more.

6. Nmap

Nmap scans ports on hosts looking for vulnerabilities. It’s designed to scan IP addresses or hostnames and tell us what services (application name and version numbers) they offer. It’s not just about scanning; it’s about detecting vulnerable servers. Nmap reports back what protocols each service uses, how well it is secured, and if any problems were detected while trying to connect to it.

7. TcpDump

Tcpdump is a powerful network protocol analyzer tool. You can use it to capture sessions at the low level (packets) or high level (flows). It supports Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, Windows, and Solaris operating systems.

8. Nikto

Nikto is a free web vulnerability scanner with over 1 million scanned sites per day. It checks for common web application vulnerabilities. If a site uses custom code written in languages like PHP, Perl, Python, ASP.NET, ColdFusion, Java, or VB Script, Nikto will check if the language's built-in libraries have known vulnerabilities. Nikto does not require root privileges to run.

9. Forcepoint

Forcepoint is an open-source Network Security appliance based entirely on the open-source Snort/IDS system. It provides advanced intrusion detection and prevention capabilities. It can protect both wired and wireless networks and has many useful features for small offices.