BackTrack
 | |
 BackTrack 5 R3 | |
| Company / developer | Mati Aharoni, Devon Kearns, Offensive Security.[1] |
|---|---|
| OS family | Unix-like |
| Working state | Superseded by Kali Linux |
| Source model | Open source |
| Latest stable release | 5 R3 / August 13, 2012 |
| Supported platforms | i386 (x86), AMD64 (x86-64), ARM |
| Kernel type | Monolithic |
| Default user interface | Bash, KDE Plasma Desktop, Fluxbox,[2][3] GNOME |
| License | Various |
| Official website | www.backtrack-linux.org |
BackTrack was a Linux distribution designed by Jason Dennis based on the Ubuntu Linux distribution aimed at digital forensics and penetration testing use.[4] It was named after backtracking, a search algorithm. In March 2013, the Offensive Security team rebuilt BackTrack and released it under the name Kali Linux.[5]
History
The BackTrack distribution originated from the merger of two formerly competing distributions which focused on penetration testing:
- WHAX: a Slax-based Linux distribution developed by Mati Aharoni, a security consultant. Earlier versions of WHAX were called Whoppix[6] and were based on Knoppix.
- Auditor Security Collection: a Live CD based on Knoppix developed by Max Moser which included over 300 tools organized in a user-friendly hierarchy.
The overlap with Auditor and WHAX in purpose and in their collection of tools partly led to the merger.
Tools
BackTrack provided users with easy access to a comprehensive and large collection of security-related tools ranging from port scanners to Security Audit. Support for Live CD and Live USB functionality allowed users to boot BackTrack directly from portable media without requiring installation, though permanent installation to hard disk and network was also an option.
BackTrack included many well known security tools including:
- Metasploit for integration
- Wi-Fi drivers supporting monitor mode (rfmon mode) and packet injection
- Aircrack-ng
- Gerix Wifi Cracker
- Kismet
- Nmap
- Ophcrack
- Ettercap
- Wireshark (formerly known as Ethereal)
- BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework)
- Hydra
- OWASP Mantra Security Framework, a collection of hacking tools, add-ons and scripts based on Firefox
- Cisco OCS Mass Scanner, a very reliable and fast scanner for Cisco routers with telnet and enabling of a default password.
- A large collection of exploits as well as more commonplace software such as browsers.
BackTrack arranged tools into 12 categories:
- Information gathering
- Vulnerability assessment
- Exploitation tools
- Privilege escalation
- Maintaining access
- Reverse engineering
- RFID tools
- Stress testing
- Forensics
- Reporting tools
- Services
- Miscellaneous
Releases
| Date | Release |
|---|---|
| February 5, 2006 | BackTrack v.1.0 Beta |
| May 26, 2006 | First release of Backtrack v.1.0 |
| March 6, 2007 | BackTrack 2 final released. |
| June 19, 2008 | BackTrack 3 final released. |
| January 9, 2010 | BackTrack 4 final release. (Linux kernel 2.6.30.9) |
| May 8, 2010 | BackTrack 4 R1 release |
| November 22, 2010 | BackTrack 4 R2 release |
| May 10, 2011 | BackTrack 5 release (Linux kernel 2.6.38) |
| August 18, 2011 | BackTrack 5 R1 release (Linux kernel 2.6.39.4) |
| March 1, 2012 | BackTrack 5 R2 release (Linux kernel 3.2.6[7]) |
| August 13, 2012 | BackTrack 5 R3 release[4] |
| March 13, 2013 | Kali 1.0 release[8] |
As soon as newer versions of BackTrack are released, older versions lose their support and service from the BackTrack development team.[citation needed]
References
- ↑ "Developers.".
- ↑ "HowTo:Install KDE 4.1". Offensive-security.com. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
- ↑ BackTrack 4 tutorial
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 BackTrack Linux – Penetration Testing Distribution
- ↑ "Kali Linux Has Been Released!". 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
- ↑ http://www.remote-exploit.org/?page_id=160
- ↑ http://www.backtrack-linux.org/backtrack/upgrading-to-backtrack-5-r2/
- ↑ Kali Linux
External links
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