10 Gadgets That Any Aspiring Ethical Hacker Must Have

Becoming an ethical hacker shouldn’t just be about burying your nose in a textbook or spending hours drowning in code, it should also be fun! We’ve compiled a list of fun gadgets every aspiring hacker can use to develop your hacking skills and have some fun at the same time.

Keep your hacking activities siloed from your personal computer by having a dedicated ethical hacking Raspberry Pi computer. The Raspberry Pi is small but powerful and versatile, making it great for a variety of hacking applications. You can set up a small program that will capture wifi packets which you can crack at home, you can connect a raspberry pi to a chosen computer and use it to steal data or conduct man in middle attacks. You can use the ARM version of Kali Linux for penetration testing and hacking.

Raspberry Pi has many uses and you can really get creative with what you can do. However, it’s important to remember that while Raspberry Pi can be manipulated to handle a multitude of different tasks, this small device has its limitations. For example, it would be very difficult to successfully conduct brute force attacks using the Raspberry Pi.

The USB Rubber Ducky is Hak5’s answer for pentester and hackers who want to plug an innocent-seeming USB into a computer and let it do the nefarious work of stealing documents, passwords, and more.

According to Hak5’s website:

“The USB Rubber Ducky delivers powerful payloads in seconds by taking advantage of the target computers inherent trust all while deceiving humans by posing as an ordinary USB drive.”

The device is also powerful and versatile:

“Featuring a fast 60 MHz 32-bit CPU, convenient type-A USB connector, Micro SD expandable memory, programmable payload replay button, JTAG interface with GPIO and DFU bootloader – it’s truly hackable.”

A VPS is a virtual private server that allows users to think they are on a private or dedicated server even though the server is actually virtual and installed on a physical computer. A VPS is essentially a computer that hackers can control remotely as long as they are connected to the internet.

A VPS can be used to host payloads, create server proxies, perform brute force attacks, host phishing sites, create IRC bots, create honey pots, host Metasploit sessions and more.

You might remember tiny laptops being popular 10 to 15 years ago. When laptops first became popular, they became bigger and they also became much, much smaller. As time went on laptop manufacturers realized that there wasn’t much of a market for tiny laptops for your average consumer, but they were popular with hackers. This lead to their downfall and they became difficult to find, until now. Tiny laptops are back and are recognized as a great way for aspiring hackers to learn to hack on the go.

Penetration testers can install Ubuntu, Kali Linux and BlackArch on the GPD Pocket 2, a popular tiny laptop for hacking endeavors.

The USB Armory is a small, flash-drive sized computer that’s open source and secure, making it ideal for running a variety of applications. it houses a rapid NXP i.MX53 processor, ARM® TrustZone® integration, and a fully customizable operating environment.

The USB armory can be used for a range of hacking activities:

• As a portable penetration testing platform
• For USB security testing
• As an electronic wallet for cryptocurrency
• File storage with additional features such as virus scanning and host authentication.
• As a password manager

A graphics processor unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to aid and accelerate the rendering of images on our screens. GPUs are usually embedded in the computer’s motherboard but can be repurposed to create dedicated hacking rigs.

GPUs have a reputation for being expensive. As cryptocurrency mining spiked in popularity, the price of GPUs skyrocketed to the point where gamers and tech enthusiasts were finding it impossible to find affordable GPUs. Luckily, the market has stabilized now and GPUs are once again much more affordable.

GPUs are a great way to build cracking rigs and test brute force password attacks. Hackers can combine password cracking tools like Hashcat and a dedicated GPU kit to do the job.

EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti SC Gaming, 4GB GDDR5, DX12 OSD Support (PXOC) Graphics Card 04G-P4-6253-KR  ( Amazon ) 

In order to hack Wi-Fi, you will need a wireless network adapter that supports packet injection and monitor mode. Alfa offers a range of network adapters that have different advantages. You’ll want a Kali compatible adaptable in order to get the most out of your device and sharpen your penetration testing skills. [ on Amazon ]

Packet Squirrel is another Hak5 hacking gadget that will take your hacking skills to the next level. The Packet Squirrel is a stealthy pocket-sized man-in-the-middle hacking tool.

According to Hak5’s website, penetration testers can use the Packet Squrriel to:

“Gain persistent, covert remote access with VPNs and reverse shells. It’s the perfect pivot point. Or place between any network segment to perform DNS spoofing man-in-the-middle attacks.”

This keylogger has 4MB of flash memory and can store 2000 pages of text. The device is capable of recording all keys and works with all versions of windows and Linux. The keylogger is discreet and won’t be visible to the Operating System when installed until a specific key is entered which will reveal a file with all the captured text – perfect for any covert aspiring hacker.

If you’ve made it to the end of our list, you may rightly be feeling a little paranoid about whether some of these techniques are being used on you! If you want to make sure your phone or devices are safe from being invaded, you may want to block it’s wireless communication entirely with a faraday bag. A Faraday bag will prevent wireless signals from getting in or out of your device.

Faraday bags are made of a material that blocks wireless communications from passing through it, for example, 2G/3G/4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and so on. You can test your Faraday bag by placing your phone inside and ringing it from a different phone – if it works as it should, then it shouldn’t ring.

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