Kali Linux

I have been using Kali Linux  for almost three to four years now.

I use Kali Linux  for penetration testing purposes as well as red teaming activity. I also use it for solving machines in Hack The Box  or TryHackMe.

There is a particular machine in Hack The Box  which requires you to connect to their machines and perform reconnaissance as well as identify vulnerabilities in the system and exploit them in order to get the flags. That would be my recent use case.

For my coursework, which was a long time ago, I used Kali Linux for vulnerability scanning.

I think the plethora of tools that come built-in with Kali Linux is really helpful. There are a lot of categories which it provides, starting from reconnaissance to exploit. Since all of them are already built-in, I don't have the necessity to go and install every single one of them. Kali Linux has a really good suite of tools already built-in, which is one of the best features that comes to my mind.

I would definitely say the reconnaissance-based tools are my favorite in Kali Linux. There are a lot of reconnaissance tools available. Outside of that, I also use Metasploit  and other exploitation tools. However, it predominantly lies with reconnaissance and exploitation.

One feature I found cool was that you can disguise Kali Linux as just another operating system, such as Windows, when you are using it outside.

A good amount of time is saved when it comes to scanning and reconnoitering infrastructure with Kali Linux.

Kali Linux has a variety of tools and a variety of word lists present, which makes it a lot easier to choose between options. For example, for subdomains, there are a bunch of them. Particularly for finding the fields of requests, there are many options. All of this makes it easier rather than going to the web to search for a particular list and curating the list for a particular thing. In that case, I would say it is saving me a good amount of time.

I feel there is not much for me to say in this because as far as all the products that I have used within Kali Linux, it has never probably been hung up on me or it was pretty smooth overall. I do not really recollect any instance where I felt this could be improved or that could be improved.

The overall theme of Kali Linux seems pretty good. However, something about it might be improved, maybe the overall smoothness of it, because there are sometimes when I try to run a lot of applications, it tries to hang up on me. That might be an area for improvement.

I have been using Kali Linux for two and a half years.

To most parts, Kali Linux is stable in my experience nine out of ten times.

I have no scalability issues with Kali Linux.

I had worked with Parrot  OS, but I did not like the interface, so I switched to Kali Linux.

I cannot speak for the organization as a whole, but Kali Linux is used quite a lot in my team, and particularly by me. It does help me to increase my pace when it comes to the reconnaissance process and also while solving machines in Hack The Box.

Kali Linux is a very good tool and a good overall operating system to use when it comes to penetration testing, as it has a wonderful set of tools. You just need to search for the right tools within it because it offers a plethora of tools. It might be a good way to start identifying what the tools are best suited for your environment and what your needs are.

I have not had to get back to them anytime regarding support for Kali Linux. My overall rating for this product is nine out of ten.

Kali Linux  is my main distribution on my laptop and serves as my everyday operating system of preference.

I use Kali Linux  to automate tasks with Bash, check SSL certificates, and I particularly appreciate Metasploit . Kali Linux comes with penetration testing tools, and I also perform programming with Python that is installed on the system. These are the tools I use daily.

I also use Kali Linux to create reports with a word processor. There is a useful tool to explore databases and connectivity, and there are numerous tools available to check network connectivity.

I have installed Kali Linux in a Docker  container and run it with connectivity through SSH, so I do not use the GUI and graphic interface much.

I use Kali Linux on my own laptop, and I believe I am the only security user using Kali Linux in my organization. I am also the only user in general.

The best features Kali Linux offers in my experience are the pre-installed security tools. This is very useful because I do not need to install all these security tools by hand in another distribution, which is why I use Kali Linux every day.

I find myself using the pre-installation of Metasploit  and other open-source security tools the most, as it stands out in Kali Linux. Although Metasploit is very old and outdated, it is handy for conducting small initial penetration tests. All the tools for checking Wi-Fi connectivity, password cracking, and testing password security are also very handy.

Kali Linux positively impacts my organization by allowing us to monitor changes and security posture for the company. We have all the tools to conduct periodic checks, which is especially useful for ISO 27000 certification.

Kali Linux helps with ISO 27000 certification by keeping documentation and proof. Every time I find something during penetration testing, such as an operating system for an app that falls outside of the normal metrics, I document it using Kali Linux, and keeping this documented is very handy to achieve and maintain ISO 27000 certification.

There are many improvements that can be made to Kali Linux. For example, a better database for Metasploit and keeping the tools more up to date would be beneficial. As I mentioned before, Kali Linux comes with a very old version of the product or software, but it is usually up to the user to update and upgrade.

There is a significant lack of examples for Kali Linux, so you always need to go to external resources to get examples on how to use several tools that come with Kali Linux. There is no easy way to find out how the tools work or what tools are installed in Kali Linux.

I have been working in my current field for seven years.

Kali Linux is very stable for my needs. It does the work, and there is also a version for my Raspberry Pi that I use for some examples.

Scalability is not applicable for this product, as I use Kali Linux as a single entity and a single operating system for my normal use. I do not need to scale up or handle increased workloads, but if I need more workload, I would probably need more CPU, and Kali Linux will handle that properly.

I have needed help with Kali Linux, but I have never received help from any source, as there is not an option to get support.

Kali Linux is my first distribution for security in Linux. I tried other distributions, but I always stick with Kali Linux. It was the first that I knew and the one that I always use.

I did not evaluate other options. I selected Kali Linux because it was the first one that showed me the right direction for security testing.

There is no investment involved because I am using the product on my laptop, so there is no return on investment. The return on investment is having all the tools readily available without any cost.

My advice to others looking into using Kali Linux is to only install it if you are a security-focused person and not to use it for daily, day-to-day activities if you are a normal user. I would rate my overall experience with Kali Linux as a seven out of ten.

My main use case for Kali Linux  is whenever there's an open-source or free tool to use with an API and Python that I need to utilize. I prefer Kali Linux  because it has a Linux environment and numerous open-source tools that work and are compatible with Kali Linux.

A specific example of how I've used Kali Linux in my work is that it has many offensive security tools. The last time I used it was when I was preparing for my OSWA exam, where I used the terminal extensively to probe the labs provided to me in the OSWA certification exam.

I also use Kali Linux as my go-to operating system. My main operating system on my personal laptop is Kali Linux, and for my office use case, I have Kali Linux set up in a VM.

The best features Kali Linux offers include the ability to customize everything and anything, from the terminal to the preferences to getting the environment set up and storing everything as I would want, and setting preferences accordingly.

When I say customizing everything, I customize my tools that run using the CLI, such as the terminal itself. I usually write a script that would automate running four or five tools simultaneously. For example, I would provide input for a first tool, and the output from the first tool would be the input for the second tool, and so forth. The output from the second tool would be the input for the third tool, and similarly, I have a script written that combines three or four tools and gives me the end result exactly the way I want it or in the particular format that I need.

A unique and really helpful feature of Kali Linux, compared to other operating systems, is that many of the offensive security tools are already pre-configured and pre-installed. I do not have to deal with a lot of hassle. I just boot up the operating system and I'm ready to go. The software is already loaded in the operating system.

On a personal level, I have done a significant amount of learning, experimentation, and hands-on practice with Kali Linux.

I think Kali Linux can be improved because it is not a beginner-friendly operating system. A basic hands-on guide for anyone who installs the operating system would be beneficial, so that they become acclimated to the operating system and understand the file directory structure. That could be a good starting point for Kali Linux.

In terms of needed improvements, I have found that when downloading Kali Linux from kali.org, we get the ISO file. However, when downloading a virtual machine image, such as a VMware image or VirtualBox image, I was unable to directly use it through VMware or VirtualBox. I think Kali Linux needs to provide a better image that would be compatible with running on these platforms. Additionally, the versions that are available, or the latest version whenever it is released, are not very stable. I generally prefer using an older version rather than the latest version of Kali Linux.

I have been using Kali Linux for four or five years.

Kali Linux is stable for my use cases, though not the latest version. If you downgrade two or three versions from the latest, you are good to go.

Regarding the scalability of Kali Linux for my work and projects, whenever I was conducting brute force attacks and provided more than two or three million lines of payload, the system would freeze. However, I believed this was a hardware fault rather than a software issue, though I am not entirely certain about this limitation.

I have not used the customer support for Kali Linux, but I have searched extensively on Stack Overflow and Kali forums. That was very helpful because most of the issues I faced were already mentioned in one of those forums, and I was able to solve the problems I was experiencing.

Before Kali Linux, I was using a Debian  operating system and I also tried Parrot  OS. I found Parrot  OS a little bit flashy. Kali Linux is more calm and composed. That is why I switched to Kali Linux. I still appreciate Debian , but it does not have the tools. If I'm getting a fresh operating system, I would still prefer Kali Linux.

I would say I have seen a return on investment in time saved, for sure. For metrics, I do not find any metrics apart from the learning that I have done.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Kali Linux is that this is not for commercial use. This is for personal use that I have done. The pricing, setup cost, and licensing were all nil for me. I installed the operating system from kali.org and ran it on a personal machine and in a VM on my professional machine.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing Kali Linux. I already knew about it.

Kali Linux has helped me with my learning and experimentation by allowing me to do many CTFs when I was learning to go into the offensive security side or doing penetration testing. There, I learned many probing attacks, such as HTTP probe, and then there is the Gitrob tool. Many of the offensive security tools that I used were in Kali Linux. The best part is automating it through the CLI. The CLI is the one feature that I have used the most in Kali Linux.

The most significant benefits I have experienced since using Kali Linux for my personal or professional work are the hands-on capabilities that we use on the tools at every stage of probing a website. This includes everything from reconnaissance to active attacks, passive attacks, and then trying to use Burp  Suite, which is a proxy tool. That is where I find it the most useful. Getting accustomed to the terminal gives you a different feeling than using the GUI.

Kali Linux stands out compared to other operating systems I have used for security work because it is a specific distribution of Linux that has all the required tools pre-loaded and configured. Python is already configured with the correct path variable, Java is installed already, and Go is pre-loaded. These are features that every offensive security software or operating system needs. If I'm using Windows and trying to attack a website, I have to manually install those programming languages that I will be writing scripts on, and then declare the path variables. That makes it more tedious than how Kali Linux works. Additionally, I can run multiple threads in Kali Linux, and the operating system is still able to support the performance, compared to Windows, which will lag or freeze if given multiple processes to run.

My advice for others looking into using Kali Linux is to first understand the basics of Linux, then understand how the Linux terminal works, and only after that should you dive into Kali Linux. If Kali Linux is the first operating system you are using in a Linux environment, you might become confused. Many of the features do not have a graphical user interface, so you will need to be more accustomed to the terminal.

Kali Linux is a great operating system. I appreciate it because it offers a diverse range of tools. I do not think I have ever used all the tools that are pre-provided in the operating system. An option to choose what different kinds of attacks you are using so you can streamline the software that you are downloading would be beneficial. If I need something for an active attack, that would be a different stream of tools that should be pre-loaded, compared to passive kinds of attacks. That could be a major upgrade or option for choosing at the time of download. You could get a lightweight operating system, and if needed, you can always download those tools later. Overall, I found this product to be valuable for my security work.

My main use case for Kali Linux  is for penetration testing.

A quick specific example of how I've used Kali Linux  for penetration testing is that there are some tools which could be used to simulate a threat or an attack on, for example, a web browser, and try to pinpoint the issues that happen. There are many tools in Kali Linux that allow an individual to do that.

The best features Kali Linux offers are that it is focused on cybersecurity and has a lot of tools related to cybersecurity.

The specific cybersecurity tools in Kali Linux I find most valuable or use most often include Nmap .

Kali Linux has positively impacted my work by facilitating and simplifying the setup for an operating system and installing tools. It is all in one package, so getting started to do the job happens without the headache of installations, setup, and preparations.

It helps me save a lot of time. For example, I have saved at least one week of installations and operations compared to Ubuntu .

I think there are a lot of efforts which are really great for improving Kali Linux. Increasing the tutorials and the help inside Kali Linux would make it more useful.

I have been using Kali Linux for two years.

Kali Linux is stable.

Kali Linux's scalability is really good; I am using it in a very good way.

I have not needed to reach out for help regarding customer support.

I previously used Ubuntu  and installed some tools there, but I switched to Kali Linux because it contains everything at once.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been good because I am using the free version.

I have seen a return on investment by using fewer resources and saving a lot of time.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been good because I am using the free version.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing Kali Linux.

My advice to others looking into using Kali Linux is to try to learn a lot about it before using it. When you start using it, you will find it very useful. I would rate my overall experience with Kali Linux as a 9.