Parrot (Security OS)

Parrot Security OS is based on Debian GNU/Linux combined with the Frozenbox OS and Kali Linux to provide ethical hackers the best-in-class experience of penetration and security testing in real-world environments. It is also designed to provide vulnerability assessment and mitigation, computer forensics and anonymous Web browsing, by the Frozenbox team.
Parrot Security OS makes use of Kali repositories for all sorts of package updates and to integrate new tools. It makes use of the MATE desktop environment using the LightDM display manager to provide an easy-to-use GUI and lightweight environment for computer system analysts to perform all sorts of forensics, vulnerability assessment and cryptography. This OS is known for being highly customisable and for its strong community support.

Figure 3: Parrot Security operating system

Key features:

• Equipped with the highly customisable kernel version 4.5, it is currently under rolling release upgrade line and based on Debian 9.
• Has custom anti-forensic tools, interfaces for GPG, Cryptsetup, and support for LUKS, Truecrypt and VeraCrypt.
• It supports FALCON 1.0 programming language, multiple compilers, debuggers and the Qt5 and .NET/mono frameworks.
• Supports Anonsurf including anonymisation of the entire OS, TOR, I2P anonymous networks and beyond.
• A special edition of Parrot Cloud, designed for servers, comprises lightweight Parrot OS distributions without graphics, wireless and forensics tools, and acts as a VPS or dedicated server with only useful security tools.

Latest version: 3.3

Top ten OS for Hackers

A hacker is a highly skilled computer operator who uses bugs and exploits to break into computer systems and networks. An ethical hacker, on the other hand, identifies vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks, and plugs these holes. Here’s a round-up of the ten best operating systems for ethical hackers and penetration testers.
Hacking has been part of computing for over five decades and is a very broad area, covering a range of tasks. The term hacker originated in 1960 at MIT. Hacking is regarded as a process of locating all possible back doors that exist in a computer system or network and, finally, intruding into it. In simple terms, it is regarded as an unauthorised activity to gain access to a computer system or network, to harm it or prevent its normal functions and to steal sensitive information available on computing systems.
On the other hand, hacking can also be a legal activity when it is used to discover back doors and weaknesses in computer systems in order to patch them. This is called ethical hacking.t
In today’s cyber world, lots of varied attacks occur every hour and are achieved by professional hackers, virus writers and crackers. The most basic tool required by every hacker is a hacking operating system. Usually, the operating systems specialising in hacking are based on the Linux kernel. These operating systems are regarded as advanced working systems, which include lots of ethical hacking and penetration testing tools.
In this article, the ten best operating systems used by ethical hackers and penetration testers are featured. All of them are free, open source, are based on the Linux kernel and are bundled with many hacking tools.