In other cases, the workstation you are provisioned for a pen testing job may require you to keep Windows as the primary operating system. You can often install Kali fully on your machine. I run Kali on all my laptops-in fact, this post is being written on Kali under a normal user account on my “sittin’ in the coffee shop” laptop. With Kali, the developers have already installed key tools for you, so your experience is pain-free. There is nothing wrong with having a “full toolbox,” but sometimes loading individual tools on the distro of your choice can be a hair-pulling experience. In less than an hour, you can have a running pen testing box with more tools than you will ever use. Kali has become a go-to distribution for hacking, and rightly so.

Kali Linux is an open source project that is maintained and funded by Offensive Security, a provider of information security training and penetration testing services. If you’re just getting started in penetration testing, or are simply interested in the basics, this blog is for you. I’m Bo, a penetration tester at CompliancePoint (and also a customer of Rapid7).

The following is a guest post from Rapid7 customer Bo Weaver.

Kali virtualbox boot from usb