What Is Kali Linux? Why Use Kali Linux?

Kali Linux is a Debian-based Linux distribution. It's a sophisticated program which is targeted directly at the needs of network scientists and penetration tests. By adding a range of pre-set tools for Kali, it's an ethical hacker's swiss knife. Kali Linux is previously known as a backtrack and, unlike Backtrack which had multiple tools to serve the same purpose, is simply a better replacement, leaving it jampacked with ineffective tools. Ethical hacking with Kali Linux is also easier.

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Offensive Protection is provided by Kali Linux. It is a Debian repeat of their previous BackTrack release focused on Knoppix digital forensics and penetency checking.

Citing the official title of the web page, Kali Linux is "Unix Penetration Research and Legal Hacking." In short, this is a Linux distribution filled with security-related software and aimed at network and computer security practitioners.

A Linux release is nothing more than the package of key tools, programs and a few default configurations comprising the Linux kernel. Kali Linux therefore does not deliver anything special, except that the majority of software it offers can be built on Linux.

The distinction is that Kali is pre-packaged and the default settings have been selected for that delivery in compliance with the expected use cases, rather than, say, to match the needs of traditional mobile user.

That is, you don't have to use Kali, no matter what the purpose is. It is simply a special distribution which makes tasks that it is designed specifically for easier while making other tasks harder.

Kali Linux Development

Kali Linux is key developers for Mati Aharoni and Deavon Kearns. It's a rewriting of Backtrack Linux, a new penetration control centered on Linux. Kali architecture is based on Debian specifications as it imports much of its code from Debian repositories. Created by a small group of developers in early March 2012. Few developers could commit packages only in a very selected environment, too. The first version of Kali Linux in 2013 came out of development. Since then, a variety of big changes have been made by Kali Linux. These updates are established via Offensive Defense.

Why Use Kali Linux?

There are a wide variety of explanations that we should be using Kali Linux. Let me read a couple of them out:

More Resources Than You Would Know Of

Kali Linux comes with over 600 separate tools relevant to penetration testing and protection analytics.

Open Source

Kali, a part of the Linux family, fits the commonly accepted concept of open source. Their creation tree is open to the public on Git and all code is accessible for the purposes of tuning.

Fully Customizable

At aggressive protection developers realize that not everybody is going to comply with their architecture style, so they made it as simple as possible for the more ambitious user to configure Kali Linux to their taste, all the way down to the kernel.

Multi-language Support

Although penetration solutions continue to be written in English, Kali has been designed to provide true multilingual assistance, enabling more consumers to work in their native language and to find the resources they want for the work.

As Free As Possible

Kali Linux was and would still be free to
download.

System Requirements For Kali Linux

Kali installation is one slice of cake. Everything you need to make sure that you have the hardware that's compliant. Kali is supported on platforms including i386, amd64, and ARM (both ARMEL and ARMHF). The hardware specifications are limited as described below, but better hardware can provide better performance, obviously.

• Initial storage space of 20 GB for installation of Kali Linux.

• CD-DVD Drive / VirtualBox/ USB boot support. 

• RAM for the architectures i386 and amd64, minimum: 1 GB, recommended: 2 GB or greater.

Tools list

So here is a list of tools which are pre-installed using Kali Linux for ethical hacking. This list is by no means exhaustive since Kali has a myriad of resources that can not be mentioned and clarified in one post.

Nmap

Network Mapper, also typically referred to as Nmap, is an open source tool network invention and security auditing utility. In stealthy ways, Nmap uses raw IP packets to decide the hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) these hosts provide, what operating systems they operate, what sort of packet filters / firewalls are in operation and hundreds of other functions.

Aircrack-ng

Aircrack-ng is a suite of software for evaluating the reliability of WiFi networks. It focuses on core WiFi Protection areas:

Attack: Targeting replay, de-authentication, bogus connections and other access points via packet injection.

Monitoring: Packet data processing and transfer to text files to be further analyzed by software of third parties.

Cracking: WEP and WPA PSK (WPA 1 and 2) are held.

Testing: Tests of the capturing and injection capacity of WiFi cards and driver.

Both resources are a command line for scripting extensively. This feature has been used by a lot of GUIs. It runs primarily on Linux, but also on Windows, OS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD.

WireShark

WireShark is an open-source packet analyser that can be downloaded for free. With it, you can view network operations from a microscopic level, along with access to pcap archives, customized data, advanced prompts, notifications, etc. It is reportedly the most widely used Linux network protocol analyzer worldwide.

THC Hydra

THC Hydra is always the device you like if you have to crack brute force into a remote authentication program. It can target more than 50 protocols easily, which include telnet, FTP, Mysql, HTTPs, SMB, numerous databases and many more. This can be used to hack site scanners, networks, packet producers, etc.

Nessus 

Nessus is a remote inspection tool to test security vulnerabilities on computers .. It does not actively block the faults of your machines, but it can easily execute 1200 + vulnerability cheques and throw warnings when any security patches are required.

Conclusion: Do you have to use Linux Kali?

And now is my time to conclude. But with a clear, black-and-white opinion I didn't want to finish the long post. Particularly because I don't know you, definitely.

Three plausible findings are also here. Choose the right one for your case:

1. When you have leapt to this conclusion without reading the rest of the post, either you have already a firm view, and I have no hope of altering it, or Kali is not for you yet. In this case a more popular distribution like a basic, Debian program or Ubuntu would first be considered. You can still install your required tools on a case by case basis later.

2. Kali is not up to you if you read the post, but have missed those bits with so much technological jargon. Kali Linux could be a great resource for teaching. But you must be prepared for a steep curve of learning if you take the direction. There are several general purpose and user-friendly releases to start with if you're a really new Linux user starting from scratch or if you just want to use your machine without headaches. Why not try Zorin OS or Linux Mint? Or maybe another version of Ubuntu?

3. As you read this post, you used the instructions I was using, you looked at the links and looked at the words you did not understand. Not just are you another "kiddie story." Instead, it seems that you are willing to spend endless hours working, computer science basics understandable and networking internals. This makes you one of the few recent Linux users who might use Kali. I would suggest, however, that you first install a different distribution on Debian and run Kali Linux on a virtual device in place of the use directly on your computer. You will use your skills in this way without losing your other hobbies.