15 Best Cybersecurity tools in 2024

Anwita

Anwita

Sep 17, 2023

IBM’s cost of a data breach found that 57% of organizations increased the price of their product to recover from the impact of an incident. The research also found that the deployment of cybersecurity tools was a major cost amplifier—organizations with security tools spent less time, bandwidth, and budget on average. This is just one of the reasons why you should prioritize security. 

But what are the best cybersecurity tools? We have compiled a list of top solutions to help you make an informed decision. Read on to know more. 

What are cybersecurity tools?

Cybersecurity tools are a set of systems and techniques that protect an organization’s networks, applications, code repositories, and other critical systems from known and unknown threats by monitoring, identifying, remediating, and mitigating them. 

It is important to understand that the term “cybersecurity tools” is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of solutions that usually cater to different and specific use cases. By different, we don’t just mean the features or capabilities but also the type. Before giving you the cyber security tools list, you might want to know these types of solutions.

Types of cybersecurity tools

Application security softwareDevSecOps softwareRisk assessment software
Security compliance softwareEmail security softwareSystem security software
Cloud security softwareEndpoint protection softwareUser threat prevention software
Confidentiality softwareIdentity management softwareVulnerability management software
Data security softwareNetwork security softwareWeb security software

Cyber security tools list

We have identified the best cyber security software companies in 2024:

Sprinto

Sprinto is a cybersecurity and compliance automation platform that offers out-of-the-box security solutions, real-time monitoring capabilities, and minimizes risks. It integrates seamlessly with your cloud stack to run automated checks, maps security controls, and suggests custom remediation. 

The tool supports all industry-accepted security frameworks like SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001, NIST, CCPA, and custom frameworks – for SMBs, mid-sized, and enterprise-level organizations. 

It continuously scans your cloud environment to detect anomalies and critical security issues. Triggers custom, tiered, and high-fidelity alerts that provide deep context into the risk. 

The tool tests controls in real-time, automatically collects evidence, and maintains documentation, making it accessible during compliance audits. An in-house team of security and compliance experts assists you in fixing gaps on time to ensure audit readiness. 

A granular view of risks and security controls enables teams to assess, analyze, and mitigate risks. Check passing, critical, and failing checks from a single dashboard.

Users can assess risks based on their impact by scoring each risk using industry benchmarks. Maps risks to controls and tracks overall health from a centralized dashboard. 

It runs automated checks to identify vulnerabilities across networks and deployments, enables teams to track and manage vulnerability controls, and addresses inaccuracies with high accuracy.

How Shipsy used Sprinto to get compliant and enforce org-wide security practices

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Rule based entity level checks for controls
  • Tiered escalation of failing controls with clear recommendations to patch
  • Built-in risk assessment module accurately and quickly scopes out gaps and vulnerabilities
  • Quantitative and qualitative risk assessment using a comprehensive and customizable risk library
  • Allows users to monitor controls for multiple audit windows based on each framework and business unit
  • Automatically map risks to compliance criteria and continuously monitors controls 
  • Built-in security and privacy training modules for employees
  • Fully customizable security and privacy policy templates and purpose-built for cloud hosted companies

Burp Suite

Burp Suite is an application testing software, vulnerability scanner, penetration testing tool, and web app security platform. Pen testers can use the Burp Suite Pro tool to automate repetitive manual tasks, conduct in-depth analysis using fully and semi-automated testing tools, and minimize the chances of finding asynchronous vulnerabilities. 

Users can detect the latest and previously undiscovered vulnerabilities using the dynamic (DAST) web vulnerability scanner with high accuracy and cover more attack surface. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Easy integration with CI/CD platform facilitates easy protection of existing system
  • Native support for Jira, GitLab, and Trello enables developers to patch critical issues
  • Intuitive dashboard helps to identify trends, generate reports, and export data to other tools
  • Limitless automated DAST scanning to thoroughly identify all vulnerabilities
  • The scanner is configured to comprehend complex logic for accurate vulnerability detection
  • Out-of-box configurations to helps to manage sophisticated threats and reduce false positives 

Nmap 

Nmap is a free network scanning security auditing tool that helps system administrators manage network inventory, service upgrade schedule management, and tracking service uptime. It also helps to discover hosts and services on a device’s network by using packets and analyzing the responses. 

Nmap audits network security by identifying newly added servers, monitors for network vulnerabilities and identifies potential connectable networks to audit firewall security. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Fast basic port scanning for quick results
  • TCP/IP stack fingerprinting helps to understand the characteristics of the networks device’s operating system and hardware
  • Checks device or firewall’s security based on the whitelist of connections 
  • Tracks all devices on a network, maps out the network, and manages them
  • Ensures network security by scanning for new servers
  • Send data host networks to analyze and measure their response

Splunk 

Splunk is a security and data resilience program that helps users detect, investigate, and respond quickly to stay on top of risks. Its AI and machine learning capabilities contextualizes incidents, accelerates detection, boosts productivity, and streamlines workflows. 

It boosts your overall productivity by automating response processes to reduce the mean time to respond (MTTR) effectively. Users can minimize unpredictability caused by siloed tools and blindspots by offering deep visibility across the entire IT stack in real-time from a single console. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • AI-backed resilience for holistic security outcomes
  • Customizable models and pre-built templates helps to create rare events and launch faster
  • Smart process workflows that are highly connected to improve response efficiency 
  • Comprehensive visibility across the entire tech stack provides business context 
  • Embedded search to speed up response time 
  • No code log integration captures data from the platform into dashboard and troubleshooting workflows
  • Predictive analytics powered by AI and ML 
  • Critical system restoration using a prescriptive and prioritized approach

John the Ripper

John the Ripper is a password-cracking and recovery tool that runs on all operating systems. It is an open source software that supports a wide range of hash and cipher types like web apps, encrypted private keys, network traffic captures, groupware, and database servers. 

Users can run the tool on their systems and in the cloud. Users can run it in the cloud using a pre-generated machine image (AMI) provided by the company. 

John the Ripper works by using two common password cracking techniques—dictionary attacks (inputs a list of common passwords) and brute force attacks (a trial and error method where the attackers try to decode the credentials by entering multiple possible phrases). 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Pre-built, native packages for Mac based operating systems
  • Universal binary supported across Mac versions
  • Large database of the multilingual word list to cover more passwords
  • Auto-detection of processor architecture extensions to facilitate fast detection 
  • Pre-configured and pre-built with multi-GPU and CPU support 

Wireshark

Wireshark is an open source network protocol analyser that provides deep insights into networks at a granular level. It helps IT teams and security administrators troubleshoot network issues, analyze security threats, debug protocol implementations, and verify network applications. 

It captures data from ethernet, LAN, Bluetooth, USB, and other network media to facilitate real-time analysis. The tool can import and export files from several capture programs. 

Key features and capabilities:

  • Supports offline analysis and live capturing
  • Runs on Windows, Linux, OS X, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and more popular systems 
  • Detects VoIP calls that can be encoded and analyzed 
  • Supports decryption for files like IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, and more
  • Read data from IEEE 802.11, PPP/HDLC, ATM, Bluetooth, Token Ring, Frame Relay, FDDI, and more

Cain & Abel 

Cain & Abel is a password recovery tool that runs on Windows operating systems. It helps users recover stolen passwords, decode scrambled passwords, and recover wireless network keys. 

Cain & Abel works by using cracking techniques like network packet sniffing, dictionary attacks, brute force attacks, cryptanalysis, VoIP conversations recording, analyzing routing protocols, finding cached passwords, and decoding scrambled passwords. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Calculates NTLMv2, Microsoft Cache, Cisco IOS, Cisco PIX, APOP, and more hashes
  • Reveals password boxes and uncovers cached passwords
  • Dumps protected storage passwords and decodes scrambles passwords 
  • Wireless packet injection speeds up packet capture
  • IP to MAC Address resolver

Metasploit 

Metasploit is an open source penetration testing framework that helps IT teams to identify vulnerabilities, conduct security assessments, and adopt security best practices. It integrates seamlessly with any reconnaissance tool and elements like Windows patch enumeration. 

The framework consists of multiple customizable tools such as MSFconsole, Exploit modules, Auxiliary modules, Payload modules, No Operation (NOPS) generator, Datastore, and more. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Extensive database of known and unknown vulnerabilities
  • Enables users to create custom payloads for various exploits
  • Offers over 1,000 auxiliary modules for tasks like scanning and fuzzing
  • Works across various operating systems and environments
  • Contains tools for privilege escalation, packet sniffing, and more after a successful exploit
  • Allows users to combine any exploit with any payload

Snort 

Snort is a free and open source network intrusion detection and prevention system for Linux and Windows. It uses a set of defined rules to define what is considered malicious in its network and alerts the users if a malicious activity matching those rules is detected. 

Snort is primarily used for debugging network traffic, as a packet sniffer, and a network intrusion prevention tool. It can detect operating system fingerprinting attempts,  denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) attacks, semantic URL instructions, buffer overflows, and server message block probes. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Real-time traffic monitoring of any network 
  • Logs packets for analysis and analyze different network protocols
  • Matches packet contents against predefined rules
  • Generates logs for network traffic and incidents
  • Straightforward rules that are easy to create and implement

BitDefender

BitDefender is an all-in-one threat prevention, detection, and response solution. It offers antivirus, privacy protection, and endpoint security solutions for businesses and individual users. The solution can be deployed on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. 

BitDefender protects users against common security threats like worms, trojans, viruses, zero-day exploits, rootkits, and more. It monitors apps for suspicious behavior, scans incoming emails to block phishing attacks, blocks infected web links using a filtering technology, and removes software installed without user consent. 

Key features and capabilities:

  • Highly accurate and reliable antivirus capabilities that adapts to your hardware specifications for optimal performance
  • Includes a password manager to securely store and manage your passwords
  • Includes game, movie, and work modes to optimize performance during different activities
  • Provides exceptional scores in independent antivirus software tests
  • Multi-layer ransomware protection against sophisticated attacks
  • Adapts to software configuration and offers and encrypted internet connectivity

Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes is an anti-malware solution that runs on Windows, Mac, Chrome, Android, and iOS to scan and eliminate malicious software like adware or spyware.  It offers antivirus and privacy protection tools for businesses and individual users. 

Malwarebytes’ managed detection and response solutions help businesses monitor, investigate, and remediate several complex malware threats. Their team triages critical threats and guides in-house IT teams with actionable remediation to manage suspicious activities. 

Key features and capabilities:

  • Provides 24x7x365 alerting and monitoring against malware, vulnerability exploits and zero-day attacks
  • Offers real-time view of implementation status to track progress and adaptive threat management recommendations
  • Isolates attacks to prevent further contamination, file restoration and business continuity
  • Prevents access to and from known malicious webpages
  • Detects and removes rootkits and repairs the damage caused by them

Trend Micro Vision One

Trend Micro Vision One is a purpose-built threat detection, prevention, and response tool that helps businesses automate and simplify their security operations. It combines real-time risk assessment and automated mitigation to eliminate blind spots across users, containers, workloads, and cloud. 

Key features and capabilities:

  • Manages security holistically with comprehensive prevention, detection, and response capabilities
  • Provides complete and continuous visibility of the attack surface
  • Utilizes artificial intelligence for enhanced threat detection and response
  • Offers built-in tools to implement a dynamic zero-trust security model
  • Supports diverse hybrid IT environments, including cloud and on-premises

Forcepoint

Forcepoint is a data privacy and cybersecurity tool that protects assets across all endpoints from a single console. The tool’s Data Loss Prevention (DLP) system can be deployed on cloud and on-premise to discover, monitor, classify, and protect data and audit behavior in real-time to prevent its loss using AI and Large Language Models. 

It helps to contextualize data through user interaction analysis, minimize false positives through policy enforcement based on risk level, and alerts teams of suspicious behavior at the first point of interaction. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Single policy enforcement across web, cloud, email, network, and endpoint
  • Real-time behavior auditing prevents data loss before it occurs
  • Offers comprehensive data discovery and fingerprinting/OCR capabilities
  • The native behavioral analytics tool adjusts policies based on user behavior and emerging risks
  • Streamlines data security operations with automated policy application
  • Visualizes economic value from thwarted cyber threats in real-time
  • Identity-based access control and secure web access following Zero Trust model

Acunetix

Acunetix is an open source and end-to-end web application security scanner that identifies and patches vulnerabilities. It uses DAT and IAST scanning to discover security threats like SQL injections, exposed databases, misconfigurations, and more. 

The tool can scan for vulnerabilities in multiple environments, reduce false positives, pinpoint threat locations, automatically prioritize high risk threats, and guide security teams with remediation. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • Automatically scans websites, applications, script-heavy sites, and APIs for over 7,000 vulnerabilities 
  • Schedules in-depth scanning and automated scanning for various web applications
  • Delivers fast, accurate, and actionable reports
  • Manages and prioritizes threat detection and remediation
  • Effectively scans HTML5 and JavaScript-heavy sites and codes
  • Supports multi-level form analysis and single-page application scanning 

SolarWinds 

SolarWinds is a Security information and event management (SIEM) tool that helps to improve the overall security posture and demonstrate compliance. 

It consolidates SIEM logs in a single dashboard using data from all endpoints and networks to minimize noise, identify threats, and contextualize data to expedite forensic analysis and investigation. 

Key features and capabilities: 

  • The automated network discovery system quickly and accurately identifies devices within the network
  • Provides live tracking and notifications of network events
  • Works seamlessly with SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor for extended functionality
  • The subnet calculator manages IP network from discovery to address tracking
  • Tests network performance using a WAN killer network traffic generator 
  • Integrated compliance reporting analyzes availability and latency for multiple devices
  • Switch port mapper discovers devices connected to each port on a switch or hub

Complete security control and management 

Navigating cloud security can be harrowing, especially if you are doing it for the first time or using a siloed variety of tools. 

Sprinto helps you launch an effective cybersecurity program that helps you eliminate siloed efforts using a single solution that offers advanced features and capabilities like: 

  • Tracking security and compliance efforts
  • Maintaining a single source of truth
  • Complete and comprehensive visibility
  • Access to top penetration testers
  • Enhanced threat visibility across endpoint and mobile devices

Talk to our security and compliance experts today to learn how we help companies like yours boost their security posture. Book a demo now

FAQs 

What are examples of cybersecurity tools?

Examples of security tools are network security monitoring tools, compliance tools, vulnerability scanning tools, network defense wireless-tools, encryption tools, firewalls, network packet sniffers, antivirus software, XDR services, public key infrastructure services, and penetration testing. 

How do security tools work?

Security tools work through continuous monitoring of the network to detect malicious activities, security flaws like weak passwords, detecting phishing attacks, conducting forensic analysis, and identifying a number of security threats across the entire IT infrastructure.  

What features should I look for in a cybersecurity tool?

Look for automated threat detection for proactive monitoring, identification of potential vulnerabilities, thorough security auditing capabilities, intrusion detection systems, incident response mechanisms, and the ability to effectively manage security incidents across various operating systems with detailed insights. 

Anwita

Anwita

Anwita is a cybersecurity enthusiast and veteran blogger all rolled into one. Her love for everything cybersecurity started her journey into the world compliance. With multiple certifications on cybersecurity under her belt, she aims to simplify complex security related topics for all audiences. She loves to read nonfiction, listen to progressive rock, and watches sitcoms on the weekends.

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