SSHsec alternatives
Looking for an alternative tool to replace SSHsec? During the review of SSHsec we looked at other open source tools. Based on their category, tags, and text, these are the ones that have the best match.
Alternatives (by score)
ssh-audit
Introduction
The ssh-audit tool is of great help when scanning SSH servers to discover possible improvements. It is written in Python and with a simple 'git clone' it can already be started. You typically would use a tool like this to improve your own SSH configurations or as part of a security assignment.
Project details
ssh-audit is written in Python.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code is easy to read and understand
- + Tool is easy to use
- + More than 2000 GitHub stars
- + Very low number of dependencies
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Application security
- Penetration testing
- Security assessment
Lynis
Introduction
Lynis is an open-source security auditing tool that is available since 2007 and created by Michael Boelen. Its primary goal is to evaluate the security defenses of systems running Linux or other flavors of Unix. It provides suggestions to install, configure, or correct any security measures.
Project details
Lynis is written in shell script.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code is easy to read and understand
- + More than 100 contributors
- + More than 8000 GitHub stars
- + Tool is easy to use
- + Available as package (simplified installation)
- + Commercial support available
- + Used language is shell script
- + Very low number of dependencies
- + Project is mature (10+ years)
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- IT audit
- Penetration testing
- Security assessment
- System hardening
- Vulnerability scanning
ssh_scan
Introduction
This tool is light on its dependencies, as it only uses Ruby and BinData. The scanner is simple to use, as it is limited in the number of parameters and options. There is also the ability to show the results on the screen or export the data to a JSON file. The latter is great if you want to do further processing of the details, or simply store them for later comparison.
Project details
ssh_scan is written in Ruby.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + More than 10 contributors
- + Many releases available
- + The source code of this software is available
- + Supported by a large company
Typical usage
- Penetration testing
- Security assessment
- System hardening
- Vulnerability scanning
Cloud Security Suite (CS Suite)
Introduction
Cloud Security Suite (CS Suite) is a security toolkit that allows scanning Amazon, Google, and Azure cloud platforms. It leverages tools like Lynis, Prowler, and Scout2 to collect all information. The promise of the tool is to simplify the installation of the tools, their configuration, and the data collection.
Project details
Cloud Security Suite is written in Python.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
- - No releases on GitHub available
Typical usage
- IT audit
- Configuration audit
- Penetration testing
- System hardening
CloudSploit scans
Introduction
CloudSploit scans is an open source software project to test security risks related to an AWS account. It runs tests against your Amazon account and aims to discover any potential misconfigured setting or other risks.Project details
CloudSploit scans is written in Node.js.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + More than 10 contributors
- + More than 500 GitHub stars
- + The source code of this software is available
- - No releases on GitHub available
Typical usage
- IT audit
- Configuration audit
- Security assessment
Kube-Bench
Introduction
Tools like Kube-Bench help with quickly checking configuration weaknesses or discovering bad defaults.
Project details
Kube-Bench is written in Golang.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
LUNAR
Introduction
LUNAR is short for Lockdown UNix Auditing and Reporting and runs on the system itself.
Project details
LUNAR is written in shell script.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Security assessment
- Self-assessment
- System hardening
OpenSCAP
Introduction
The OpenSCAP project provides a wide variety of hardening guides, configuration baselines, and tools to test for vulnerabilities and configuration issues. It uses SCAP as the protocol to store the underlying data.
Project details
OpenSCAP is written in C.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + More than 25 contributors
- + The source code of this software is available
- + Supported by a large company
Typical usage
- Security assessment
- Vulnerability scanning
Prowler
Introduction
Prowler is a security tool to check systems on AWS against the related CIS benchmark. This benchmark provides a set of best practices for AWS. The primary usage for this tool is system hardening and compliance checking.
Project details
Prowler is written in shell script.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + More than 25 contributors
- + More than 500 GitHub stars
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Compliance testing
- Security assessment
- System hardening
VHostScan
Introduction
Tools like VHostScan are powerful to perform reconnaissance and discover configuration defaults. This can be useful during penetration tests or security testing, to see if a system has been stripped from default pages. If not, this tool might discover them and provide valuable information about the system.
Project details
VHostScan is written in Python.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Penetration testing
- Reconnaissance
Zeus
Introduction
Zeus is a tool to perform a quick security scan of an AWS environment. It helps to find missing security controls, so additional system hardening measures can be applied to systems.
Project details
Zeus is written in shell script.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + Used language is shell script
- + The source code of this software is available
- - No releases on GitHub available
Typical usage
- Configuration audit
- Security assessment
- Self-assessment
- System hardening
iniscan
Introduction
Iniscan scans a given php.ini file and tests it against security best practices. It reports back the results by showing a Pass or Fail for each related test. As it is a command-line utility, it can be used in automated testing.
Project details
iniscan is written in PHP.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + More than 25 contributors
- + More than 1000 GitHub stars
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Configuration audit
- Security assessment
orthrus
Introduction
Orthrus is a security framework and auditing tool. It allows monitoring and analyzing security configurations across multiple environments.
Project details
orthrus is written in Golang.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
- - Project is in early phase and may be unstable
Typical usage
- Security assessment
- Self-assessment
- System hardening
- Vulnerability scanning
otseca
Introduction
Tools like otseca help with data collection. This could be useful for system administrators to collect data on a regular interval. This data then can be compared with a future data capture. Another possibility is to use it during pentesting. In that case one should have already obtained root access, as the tool requires this as well.
Project details
otseca is written in shell script.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code is easy to read and understand
- + Tool is modular and extendable
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Configuration audit
- Penetration testing
- Security assessment
sysechk (System Security Checker)
Introduction
System Security Checker, or sysechk, is a tool to perform a system audit against a set of best practices. It uses a modular approach to test the system.Project details
sysechk is written in shell script.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + Used language is shell script
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- IT audit
- System hardening
testssl.sh
Introduction
Key features of testssl.sh include:
- Clear output: you can tell easily whether anything is good or bad
- Ease of installation: It works for Linux, Darwin, FreeBSD, NetBSD and MSYS2/Cygwin out of the box: no need to install or configure something, no gems, CPAN, pip or the like.
- Flexibility: You can test any SSL/TLS enabled and STARTTLS service, not only webservers at port 443
- Toolbox: Several command line options help you to run YOUR test and configure YOUR output
- Reliability: features are tested thoroughly
- Verbosity: If a particular check cannot be performed because of a missing capability on your client side, you'll get a warning
- Privacy: It's only you who sees the result, not a third party
- Freedom: It's 100% open source. You can look at the code, see what's going on and you can change it.
Project details
testssl.sh is written in shell script.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + Used language is shell script
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Application testing
- Configuration audit
Cowrie
Introduction
Cowrie is a honeypot to emulate SSH and telnet services. It can be used to learn attack methods and as an additional layer for security monitoring.Project details
Cowrie is written in Python.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + More than 50 contributors
- + More than 1000 GitHub stars
Typical usage
- Information gathering
- Learning
- Security monitoring
- Threat discovery
Dockpot
Introduction
Using an SSH honeypot is a good way to learn about common attacks on the SSH service. It can provide insights on the number of scans and probes on the network.
Project details
Dockpot is written in Python.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
- - No releases on GitHub available
Typical usage
- Learning
- Threat discovery
Fail2ban
Introduction
Fail2Ban is an intrusion prevention software framework that protects computer servers from brute-force attacksProject details
Fail2ban is written in Python.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + More than 2000 GitHub stars
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Network traffic filtering
- Security monitoring
HonSSH
Introduction
HonSSH is a high-interaction SSH honeypot to collect information about attackers that target the SSH service.Project details
HonSSH is written in Python.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
- - Unknown project license
Typical usage
- Learning
- Threat discovery
OpenSSH
Introduction
OpenSSH is a much-used connectivity tool for remote administration of Linux systems. It uses the SSH protocol and encrypts all traffic to eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other related attacks.
Project details
SSH Honeypot
Introduction
SSH Honeypot is as the name implies a honeypot to emulate the SSH service. It can be used to learn about threats and commands used by attackers.Project details
SSH Honeypot is written in C.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
Typical usage
- Learning
- Threat discovery
known_hosts_bruteforcer
Introduction
This utility is useful when you obtained a known_hosts file, but can't decipher the hashed hostnames from it.
Project details
known_hosts_bruteforcer is written in Perl.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + The source code of this software is available
- - No updates for a while
Typical usage
- Digital forensics
- Penetration testing
sshttp
Introduction
This tool allows you to run a web server and SSH daemon on the same TCP port. It can be useful to bypass some firewall restrictions.
Project details
sshttp is written in C++.
Strengths and weaknesses
- + Project is mature (5+ years)
- - Unknown project license
Typical usage
- Bypassing firewall rules
- Protocol multiplexing
Some relevant tool missing as an alternative to SSHsec? Please contact us with your suggestion.