As society becomes more technologically dependent, it is crucial to implement protection and security online. Corporations and organizations have a dedicated team to implement online and on-premise cyber security. But implementing cyber security on a personal level can be difficult. That said, it is not impossible. There are various free cyber security tools available in the market that can make your home networks, gadgets, and personal information theft-proof. Read on to know more.

The importance of cyber security
Cybersecurity is crucial for many reasons. One of the most critical aspects of this type of security is protecting your data. This includes different types, such as sensitive data and personally identifiable information, like personal and health data. Cyber security also helps protect any loss of intellectual property and private, corporate, and government information systems. So, whether you are an individual, institute, or corporation, getting the right cyber security is the need of the hour.

Corporations, institutes, and government agencies are required to have cybersecurity as per the frameworks set by their respective governing bodies. But, it is also essential to protect your data at a personal level. This means adding cyber security to your home. But doing this by yourself could be a tricky and expensive affair. Thankfully, a few free cyber security tools can help you prevent virus downloads, aid with password management, and even provide firewall internet security. Here are a few of them:

Kali Linux
If you’re looking for a cyber security tool that could help with penetration testing, security auditing, and digital forensics, you could opt for Kali Linux. This tool is an open-source Debian-based Linux software that offers a wide range of free security software. It is one of the few hacking-based Linux distributions. It comes with around 600 prepackaged tools that aid reconnaissance and delivering payloads. Each of these tools helps probe, attack, and exploit a target. Kali Linux uses the Windows Subsystem for Linux (known as WSL), which allows users to run the Linux files directly from a Windows 10 system. The Kali Os is found in many devices, such as the Rasberry Pi, Odroid, and the HP and Samsung Chromebooks.

OSSEC
Open Source HIDS Security (OSSEC) is a free cyber security and virus protection software. It is an open-source host-based intrusion detection system. It is great for long analysis, server protection, and even internet firewall intrusion, which makes it suitable for on-premise and cloud cyber security. As part of its log analysis and firewall protection, OSSEC actually monitors and analyzes the firewall, web servers, and authentication logs. The tool also allows the user to view and compare logs to find any odd changes or intrusions. The best part, though, is that it can protect you from a cyberattack that could lead to system changes in real-time. It does so by using the firewall policies and its integration with various third-party portals.

KeePass
Passwords have become an integral part of our life. But there’s no denying that remembering all the different passwords for different websites can be a tedious task. Of course, you could write down your passwords in plain text and store them away on your computer, but that means that all your data and other important information are not safe and can be damaged or stolen. Instead, you could opt for a password management tool. Password managers allow you to store your passwords in one place. All you need to remember is a single master key that allows you to access all these passwords. One of the best password managers in the market is KeePass. This is an open-source, free password manager; it allows you to have unique and strong passwords for different websites and emails. It stores your data in a secure database, which can be accessed with a key. Note that the database has the most secure encryption. It encrypts the complete database, including the names, notes, and passwords.

Nikto
If you’re someone who uses many web servers to store or access information, you may want to check out a tool that focuses on providing web server cyber security. Nikto is one of the most suitable tools for the job. It is a powerful command-line tool that works to find any cracks in various applications, services, and servers. It is excellent for quick scans on web servers and even works to check any faulty software or misconfigurations. Another great feature of Nikto is that it supports SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) encryption and proxies. The testing provided by Nikto covers more than 6700 harmful files and even checks for older versions of servers. It can be run on any system that supports the Perl programming language.

Nmap
Nmap, also known as Network Mapper, is a great tool for penetration testing. It is a free network mapper that discovers nodes and scans the system for vulnerabilities. It uses the Network Security Expert (NSE) scripts to detect these vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. Nmap also helps you find security issues in the network services. Once Nmap has mapped the network, it starts the security audit. It basically gets raw data which helps it determine the hosts on the network and the kind of operating system of the host. Aside from basic network mapping and security, Nmap also allows users to perform tasks, like pertaining to the network inventory. Nmap can run on Linux, Windows, and even the Mac OS.

Wireshark
Wireshark is one of the oldest internet security tools. It was created in the 1990s and has since been used to locate and find any vulnerabilities in the network. It allows users to observe the traffic moving around the web at the packet level. You can see traffic moving, check the packet format, and find various network issues. Wireshark can be used across multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, and even Mac OS.