Top 10 Best Linux Distro Operating Systems For Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing – 2022

There are different OS for Hacking and Penetration Testing with Linux distro is dedicatedly developed for Security Researchers or Ethical Hackers to perform various operations in security industries with a variety of hacking tools that prebuilt with OS.

Linux is an open source it gives you the freedom to choose your own operating system.

For that, a lot of developers and companies developed some special distributions for this purpose. Ex: Kali Linux, BackBox Linux, ParrotSecurity OS and so on!

Also, you can learn the Best cybersecurity and Ethical hacking course online from leading Elearning Platform.

Top 10 Best OS for Hacking & Penetration Testing

1- Kali Linux:

Kali Linux is a  #1 Best OS for Hacking and Penetration Testing Distribution based on Debian. Developed by Offensive Security.

The first release was on February 5, 2006, it’s a completion of the BackTrack Linux Project.

There are 100’s of hacking tools are pre-intstalled with Kali Linux for various operation such as pen testing, malware analysis, forensic analysis, information gathering, networking scanning, exploitation, etc.

It used to use GNOME as a Desktop Environment. Nowadays Kali Linux became a Rolling release Distro.

It has a lot of tools in the Kali Repositories. Download. Kali Linux Ranked number one in Top 10 Penetration Testing & Ethical Hacking Linux 2020.

You can find the complete kali Linux Tools & Tutorials here.

2- Parrot Security OS:

Parrot Security is #2 and another Best OS for Hacking and Penetration Testing, Forensics Distro is dedicated to Ethical Hackers & Cyber Security Professionals.

Parrot OS equally contributes to the security community the same as Kali Linux with a variety of hacking tools and an excellent GUI interface.

It has a big repository that collects a lot of amazing hacking tools for newbies and experts. Developed by FrozenBox.

The first release was in June 2013. It used to use MATE as a Desktop Environment it’s based on Debian like Kali Linux. Download.

3- BackBox Linux:

Backbox Linux is a #3 best OS for Hacking for ethical hacking and penetration testing distro based on Ubuntu Linux.

Developed by BackBox Team. The first release was on September 9, 2010.

Backbox used to use XFCE as a Desktop Environment and Ubuntu LTS versions as a base.

It contains the most professional, famous and used tools in the PenTesting field like MSF, NMAP, BurpSuite, Armitage, SQLMap and so on. Download.

4- BlackArch Linux:

Black arch Linux based Arch Linux #4  Lightweight and best OS for Hacking for ethical hacking and Penetration Testing Distro designed for Professional & Elite Hackers who have the ability to work with Linux like a Pro.

Black Arch contains nearly 2500 hacking tools and almost it covers all the phases in cybersecurity.

Used to use Fluxbox & OpenBox as a Desktop Environment with other DE’s. It has huge tools in the repository more than 1500+ hacking tool included in the Distro & Repo. The first release was in 2013. Download.

5- Pentoo:

Pentoo a #5 best OS for Hacking and PenTesting distro based on Gentoo. Nice collection of hacking tools. The first release was in June 2005. It’s somehow an old distro. We can say it’s outdated. Download.

6- Samurai Web Testing Framework (Samurai-WTF):

Samurai WTF is a one of the best OS for Hacking and Professional Web Application Penetration Testing Framework & Distro.

It contains only WebApp Pentest Tools such as Burpsuite, SQLMap… and so on. Based on Ubuntu. The first release was in 2008. Download.

7- Network Security Toolkit (NST):

Network Security Toolkit also is known as NST is a Professional best OS for Hacking and penetration testing and also designed for Network Security & Network Penetration Testing Operations. Based on Fedora.

It contains the most professional & used tools in Network PenTest field. The first release was in 2003. Download.

8- WifiSlax:

Wifislax amazing & best OS for ethical hacking and Wifi Penetration Testing Distro based on Ubuntu.

It contains a lot of Wifi Cracking/Hacking/PenTesting tools. Developed by an Italian Security Team. Download.

It mainly deployed with corporate network to make sure employee access the protected network.

9- Bugtraq:

Bugtraq professional penetration testing distro designed for Penetration Testing Operations and Reverse Engineering and Malware Analysis Missions. Based on Debian, contain a lot of hacking tools.

Developed by Bugtraq-Team, the first release was in 2012. Download.

10- Cyborg Hawk:

Cyborg Hawk, Ubuntu-based best OS for ethical hacking and penetration testing. Contain more than 700 hacking tools.

Amazing distro for hacking purposes. Developed by Cyborg Hawk Team from Australia. Download.

Conclusion – OS for Hacking

Choosing the best OS for Hacking & penetration testing is a good sign to learn ethical hacking and Penetration testing concepts to enhance your skills and protect the enterprise assets from cybercriminals.

Every security professionals have their own favors of security OS to make use of hacking tools for both learning and commercial purpose.

you can try all the OS at least once to experience the great feature.