There are several projects that develop and release "ethical hacking" Linux distributions, but I think the most popular is the one that released its last update of the year today. Kali Linux 2021.4 It's the fourth version of 2021, and they release one every quarter, so it will be the last. The previous one was 2021.3 which launched in september with novelties such as the Kali Nethunter for smart watches, as long as you have a compatible one.
Although it is not something that interests many Linux users, since we usually buy a PC and not a Mac, Offensive Security stands out first than Kali Linux 2021.4 has further improved support for the Apple M1 that they presented just over a year ago. The rest of the novelties are not very striking, but it cannot stop being interesting that the different desktops on which this distribution is available have been updated.
Highlights of Kali Linux 2021.4
- Improved support for the Apple M1. In this version it can also be installed in VWware Fusion thanks to the Linux 5.14 kernel.
- Extended support for the Samba client.
- Possibility of changing the package download mirrors in a simple way.
- Kaboxer improvements.
- New tools:
- Dufflebag - Search for secrets in exposed EBS volumes.
- Maryam - Open Source Intelligence Framework (OSINT).
- Name-That-Hash - to name a hash type if we do not know it.
- Proxmark3 - for those who like Proxmark3 and RFID hacking.
- Reverse Proxy Grapher - graphviz graph illustrating reverse proxy flows.
- S3Scanner - Scans open S3 cubes and dumps their contents.
- Spraykatz - Credential collection tool that automates the procdump and remote parsing process of lsass.
- truffleHog - Searches git repositories for high entropy strings and secrets, digging into commit history.
- Web of trust grapher (wotmate) - reimplements the defunct PGP pathfinder without needing anything more than your own keychain.
- Updated desktops, but with one thing in common: the close, minimize, and restore buttons are the same across environments.
- GNOME 41, Plasma 5.23 and Xfce 4.16.
- Improvements in NetHunter and in the ARM editions that you can read in the release note.
Kali Linux 2021.4 is available for download from this link.