14 DAY TRIAL // Offensive Security announced the release and general availability of the Kali Linux 2017.2 installation images for their advanced penetration testing and ethical hacking GNU/Linux distribution.
Kali Linux is the successor of the well-known Debian/Ubuntu-based BackTrack ethical hacking and penetration testing distro, and it follows a rolling release model where the user installs once and receives updates forever, or at least until he decides to reinstall.
If that's the case, the Kali Linux 2017.2 installation mediums are now available for download, and they include a bunch of general performance improvements and bugfixes, along with new security tools. The new images include all the updates pushed through the official channels since April's release of Kali Linux 2017.1.
Here's what's new in Kali Linux 2017.2
Among the new security tools that ship with the Kali Linux 2017.2 ISO images, we can mention the Hurl URL and hexadecimal encoder and decoder, DBeaver universal SQL client, apt2 automated penetration testing toolkit, and Phishery tool for injecting SSL-enabled auth phishing URLs into Word documents (.docx).
Additionally, there's the ssh-audit SSH server auditor tool for checking encryption compression, types, banners, etc., BloodHound tool for analyzing Active Directory trust relationships, BruteSpray tool for bruteforcing Nmap outputs, and CrackMapExec post-exploitation tool to automate the assessment of large AD networks.
Kali Linux 2017.2 also comes with up-to-date hacking and penetration testing tools like Burp Suite, Dnsenum, Edb debugger, Jd-Gui, WATOBO, and WPScan, among many others, as well as additional work to improve the overall integration of various packages in the distribution.
"One area in particular is in program usage examples. Many program authors assume that their application will only be run in a certain manner or from a certain location," explain the Kali Linux devs in the release announcement. "We hope that small tweaks like these will help reduce confusion to both veterans and newcomers."
You can download the Kali Linux 2017.2 ISO images for 64-bit and 32-bit PCs, as well as ARM devices, and virtual machines, but only if you want to deploy the operating system on new devices. Existing Kali Linux users need only to update their installations to receive all the latest security and software updates.