5 Most Commonly Used Open Source Website Security Testing Tools

Website security is important for different types of businesses to keep their data secured from all possible threats. The need of website security is increasing day-by-day because of the growing competition and the increased usage of internet. A secure website helps a business to gain the trust and confidence of the customers; thereby, increasing the sales and the brand value. An insecure website is not only a threat to businesses, but is also a potential threat to customers and the competitors. If a website is not secure, business data and the personal information that a customer feeds on the website can be easily misused or stolen by the hackers.  

There are several examples, like Apple gotofail flaw, POODLE attack, etc., which clearly states that any breach in the security measures leads to high risks to businesses, even for the best and the large ones. There are various security testing tools that a business can use for its website, in order to proactively detect application vulnerabilities and to protect the website from all possible attacks.

5 popular open source security testing tools:

1. Vega �" It is an open source susceptibility scanning and security testing tool, used to test the security level of web applications. It is written in Java, and works well with Windows, Linux and OS X platforms. It is helpful in detecting and validating SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), header injection, inadvertently disclosed sensitive information, and other vulnerabilities. Moreover, this testing tool is GUI enabled and takes into account an automated scanner and an intercepting proxy.

2. ZED Attack Proxy (ZAP) �" It is an easy-to-use open source integrated penetration testing tool, which is developed by AWASP. It is used to detect web application vulnerabilities and works with Windows, Unix/Linux and Macintosh platforms. It includes automated scanner and a set of tools for testing. Traditional and AJAX spiders, Fuzzer, Web socket support and a REST based API are the key features of this testing tool.

3. Wapiti �" This open source web application susceptibility scanner allows for auditing of the security of the web applications. It supports GET as well as POSTHTTP attack methods. Also, this testing tool performs black-box scans. It is used to detect vulnerabilities like File Disclosure, Database Injection, Cross Site Scripting (XSS), XXE (XmleXternal Entity) injection, etc.

4. SQLMap �" It is also an open source penetration testing tool, which is used to detect SQL injection vulnerability in the database of a website. It supports 6 different types of SQL injection techniques that include time-based blind, boolean-based blind, error-based, UNION query, stacked queries and out-of-band.

5. W3af �" This open source tool is a web application audit and attack framework, which is used to get information about security vulnerabilities. It helps in penetration testing efforts and is highly effective against more than 200 susceptibilities. It is written in Python programming language, and works well with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD and OpenBSD platforms.

Technology Mindz, a reputed website security company, offers reliable and authentic website security services to help organizations in keeping their business information secure. The company uses various security tools to detect the vulnerabilities in website and fix them accordingly.