Best Python Libraries used for Ethical Hacking
Python is one of the fastest-growing programming languages around the world, and it is not difficult to understand the reason behind it. Python is an open-source high-level programming language that is easy to learn and use for beginners. It is widely utilized in Web Development, Data Science, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence.
Python is also a famous choice for security professionals and ethical hackers because of its versatile nature and the wide range of libraries that we can use in order to assist in ethical hacking.
Ethical hacking, also known as Penetration testing, is the practice of legally breaking into computers and devices to test the security of computer programs, networks, and data. As Python developers, we can develop tools for ethical hacking with ease making the scripts more effective and efficient.
Moreover, cybersecurity professionals and hackers utilize Python scripts to analyze malware and identify vulnerabilities. However, there are some programmers who write exploit programs with the help of the Python programming language.
In the following tutorial, we will discuss some of the best libraries of Python that can be used for ethical hacking (or penetration testing).
Some of these Python libraries are as follows:
- Scapy
- Requests
- IMpacket
- pwntools
- Cryptography
- python-nmap
- Faker
- Twisted
- pylibnet
- RawSocketpy
Understanding the Scapy library
Scapy is a complete interactive packet manipulation library written by Philippe Biondi in the Python programming language. This library is primarily used to perform two functions: sending packets and receiving responses.
We can use Scapy to decode or forge packets of a range of protocols, send them, receives responses, matches requests with responses, and returns a list of packets couples and a list of unmatched packets. We can easily handle many common activities such as network scanning, network discovery, tracerouting, probing, attacks, and a lot more, using this library.
The objective of Scapy is to make packet manipulation simply by offering a set of functionalities that fills in the gap between low-level network programming and high-level protocols. This is an amazing utility, to begin with, packet manipulation. It is easy to use; however, it has a steep learning curve.
How to install the Scapy library?
We can install the Python Scapy library in the system using the pip installing following the command given below:
Syntax:
Understanding the Requests library
Requests is an HTTP python library utilized in order to send HTTP/HTTPS requests in an easy manner. The Requests library is an amazingly versatile and useful utility to write Python codes that need interaction with web services.
This library provides a convenient interface for sending HTTP requests and handling responses. We can use Requests for anything from sending simple requests to fetching complex data from Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to scrapping websites.
Some features of the Python Requests library are Keep-Alive and Connection pooling, international domains and URLs, browser-style SSL verification, sessions with cookie persistence, and a lot more.
The Requests library serves as a basic utility used for hacking since most hacking tasks need communication with remote servers and fetching resources over the internet. If some of us are not familiar with the Python Requests library, the official documentation is the best place to begin.
How to install the Requests library?
We can install the Python Requests library in the system using the pip installing following the command given below:
Syntax:
Understanding the IMpacket library
The IMpacket library is a set of Python classes to work with network protocols. This library is currently centered on offering help for low-level socket programming, TCP/IP, and many higher-level protocols. It is a Python library that makes it simple for developers to create and decode packets of a network.
There are many penetration testers and hackers that make use of IMpacket in order to design custom network-based intrusion attacks like a man in the middle and session hijacking. It was originally designed as an internal utility to support the testers with their testing; however, it has become a powerful tool for hackers that can be utilized against networks.
The objective of the IMpacket library is to make Network programming easier for Python programmers and developers. It is used to provide a framework to implement custom protocols. For instance, we can use the IMpacket library to implement custom versions of the TCP/IP stack for a specified target platform.
How to install the IMpacket library?
We can install the Python IMpacket library in the system using the pip installing following the command given below:
Syntax:
Understanding the pwntools library
The pwntools library acts as a Capture-the-Flag (CTF) framework and exploits the development library written in the Python programming language. It is designed in order to facilitate rapid prototyping and development.
The pwntools library offers an array of useful utilities for automating reverse engineering, penetration testing, fuzzing programs, creating exploits, and a lot more.
It allows users to create activities for tasks in CTF competitions swiftly. This library works efficiently with 64-bit Ubuntu LTS releases and has various modules that allow for rapid activity development and flexibility while scripting rogue code.
Understanding the Cryptography library
Cryptography is a library that offers recipes and primitives to Python developers for cryptography. This involves encryption, generating a random number, hashing, ciphers, and signatures for block and stream ciphers.
This library offers a high-level Application Programming Interface (API) to cryptographically strong algorithms such as digital signatures and low-level cryptographic building blocks developed with performance in mind. Ethical hacking makes use of this ability to encrypt and decrypt sensitive data shared on the internet.
Generally, Cryptography is the backbone of a secure internet.
How to install the Cryptography library?
We can install the Python Cryptography library in the system using the pip installing following the command given below:
Syntax:
Understanding the Python-nmap library
Python-nmap is a Python library that supports programmers with the Nmap port scanner. Nmap is a network administration and security auditing tool typically used for discovering services and hosts available on a network. However, we can use it in order to examine a single host also.
The Python-nmap library is considered as a Python wrapper for the Nmap tool that allows the programmer to easily access, utilize and manipulate the features and ability of Nmap in Python. It does not replace the Nmap tool; it only offers an interface to interact with Nmap.
It provides different features for accomplishing various tasks like port scanning, host discovery, and TCP/IP fingerprinting. This package is a perfect utility for hackers and systems administrators who prefer to automate tasks and reports based on network scanning. It also helps in Nmap script outputs.
How to install the Python-nmap library?
We can install the Python Python-nmap library in the system using the pip installing following the command given below:
Syntax:
Understanding the Faker library
Faker is a Python library used to generate fake information. The Faker library can generate anything ranging from names, mobile numbers, and addresses to fake texts, bibliography entries, XML documents, and many more. This library is quite easy to use. We can call the faker.name() function to order to get a random name, or the faker.address() function to get a fake address.
It comes with many other functions to generate fake data. There can be any reason we might want to use Faker. For instance, we require to fill up a database using the fake data for a prototype, or we might have to remain anonymous online with the help of fake credentials or addresses.
How to install the Faker library?
We can install the Python Faker library in the system using the pip installing following the command given below:
Syntax:
Understanding the Twisted library
The Twisted library is an event-driven networking engine written in the Python programming language. This library offers an abstraction of the TCP protocol, making it easy to script network servers and clients. It is specifically recognized for its broad support of SSL, IPv6, and many protocols, including the following:
HTTP, IRC, NNTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, SSHv2, and DNS.
Twisted supports both synchronous and asynchronous networking paradigm.
How to install the Twisted library?
We can install the Python Twisted library in the system using the pip installing following the command given below:
Syntax:
Understanding the Pylibnet module
Pylibnet is a Python module for the libnet packet injection library. This module offers a Python API for libnet, along with the functionality for sending packets, showing libpcap traces, and sniffing frames.
For more details, one can check the official documentation of the Pylibnet module.
Understanding the RawSocketPy library
RawSocketPy is a layer 2 Python library used for communication with the help of the MAC addresses only. This library enables us to implement a custom layer 2 communication with the help of Raw Sockets in Python, Synchronous, and Asynchronous.
For more details, one can check the official documentation of the RawSocketPy library.