Hydra vs. Invicti vs. John the Ripper

One scenario that fits well Hydra's ability is to test the strength of Drupal usernames and passwords. So, as an example, if we have a Drupal site at some HTTP web address, we could use lots of methods in order to collect a list with some valid users. After we create the list and also the list of some possible passwords we can try to initiate a Hydra brute force attack. Hydra for example is not suited for finding the vulnerabilities of a host, for this other solutions can be used.

Incentivized

Netsparker is very thorough but can take a very long time to scan a web application. It can also take a long time to learn and configure. Its thoroughness is a very good part of the product but if the application does [not] need this thoroughness it is probably a waste of time to run Netsparker on the website.

Incentivized

It is best suited in those environments where complexity is not the key. We've used it fairly extensively in our UNIX to find weak UNIX passwords and in Windows environments too. It's very easy to get hold of as it is essentially Open Source, although a paid version is now available and we are thinking of looking at this proposition in-depth to see if it is viable. We found it easy to install and deploy across our systems. Patching was fairly regular, so we always had the latest version. It holds its own against DES and Blowfish encryption algorithms among many others.

Incentivized

• One of most important thing is that Hydra's ability to perform HTTP post form attacks.
• The tool also can be used to attack a great number of protocols.
• The source code of the tool/software is also available for others (so it is not a closed source one).
• A good thing about this tool is also the support available and it also has a high ranking on GitHub (over 1000 stars).

Incentivized

• NetSparker has excellent customer service. When our team had to learn to use it for the first time, we had to communicate directly with NetSparker consultants.
• NetSparker is very user-friendly. It's UI is organized and keeps all the different scans we have set-up in a very clean visual.
• Netsparker has a selection of workflows and integration tools that make it useful for keeping all of my teammates on the same page.

Incentivized

• Easily finds plantect passwords.
• Simply detects passwords hashes.
• Has a fully bespoke cracker that can be modified to users requirements.
• Excellent for UNIX and Windows usage.

Incentivized

• It is not a straightforward tool to use, it needs certain dependencies to be installed so it can function as intended by its creators. This is one of the most important steps that need to be done while configuring the tool as one needs.
• Sometimes the tool gives False Positives passwords.
• There are some issues in the functionality of the tool itself (like some bugs, for example affecting the running and hanging process after a number of tries), but most of them have a solution and there is big community support for the tool.

Incentivized

• Netsparker Cloud is expensive and restricts the number of website URLs that you are allowed to scan. This restricts us from scanning all of the websites that we create and only allows us to scan a small subset of number of the website we produce.
• Netsparker is difficult to configure and I often need to open a ticket with support to figure out how to use the product. I have been vulnerability testing websites for over 10 years and I still don't think I really know how to use Netsparker.
• Netsparker can take a very long time to complete a scan due to the number of items it can scan for. Be certain to reduce the technologies that your scan will be looking at. Also, expect a large website to possibly take over two days to complete. Not something you really want to have happen on a developer checking on some source code.

Incentivized

• It needs to be modified to be able to break SHA 256, 512 and the lastest hashes.
• Can be slow and wildly against the lastest hashes.
• Require admin access to set up account.
• Old and is being superseded by better applications.

Incentivized

NetSparker support is amazing. When first introducing this software to the team, there was a lot of communication going on between Netsparker consultants and our team. They have answered our questions very efficiently and have had consultants come to our department for training. They are open to suggestions for improvements and enhancements as well.

Incentivized

There are many other tools similar to Hydra, one of them being "John the Ripper ". Notable differences are that while John the Ripper works offline, Hydra works online; also Hydra is more popular and with a wider usage as it supports Windows, Linux, and macOSX. An important thing is that both software are free to use, making both very useful tools. We can note that JTR has also a "pro" version that is not free to use and it is more optimized for speed and performance and focused on a specific operating system, while Hydra is free and offers all features at no cost.

Incentivized

I currently use OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite Professional and Veracode Dynamic Scan. ZAP is very easy to use and the web developers use it regularly. Burp Suite is very customizable as is Netsparker but usually take much less time to scan a website. Both of these tools are programmable and allow me to add special items to a scan when I need it. They are also much better documented. Veracode also has a static code analysis tool that we use much more often then the dynamic analysis tool but we do use both parts of Veracode.

Incentivized

'John the Ripper' being open source was free to use, whereas the others had to be paid for. It was very simple to install and runs against many hundreds of hashes and crypts. It is always developing thanks to large communities on GitHub.

Incentivized

• Our business objectives are accomplished using the tool as Hydra covers our needs for a free password cracking tool.
• The tool is a free one that has a lot of advantages because it is a powerful one to use for the specific task of performing some activities that are related to penetration testing.
• The services that our business provides for several clients in the field of penetration testing are at the level our customers are expecting.

Incentivized

• NetSparker has saved the team a lot of time since the scans quicker than our older software.
• NetSparker has been costing the company a lot compared to previous security software.
• Netsparker has helped improved our overall business objectives by finding an efficient and collaborative way to run scans on our systems.

Incentivized

• Helped us achieve initial Password Auditor goals and targets.
• Simple and cheap to deploy, so have saved greatly compared to paid for products.

Incentivized