Provides valuable real-time data scanning for vulnerability assessment
What is our primary use case?
We have some entirely backend services that function as an integration layer, where multiple applications exchange data through it. For any frontend and API control such as Acunetix or Qualys, they are not supported for those kinds of backend services. For that purpose, we are using Kali Linux. Kali Linux has the capability of real-time data scanning for vulnerability assessment for backend services. That is actually very far more valuable.
For backend service, Kali Linux is a very good tool, so I can recommend it for that.
What is most valuable?
Kali Linux has the capability of real-time data scanning for vulnerability assessment for backend services. That is actually very far more valuable.
The toolset on the security framework in Kali Linux is fulfilling our purpose of doing the assessment. We are good with that.
Kali Linux has the capability to expand more.
What needs improvement?
We don't know if Kali Linux has the port scanning capability yet, but that is an area of improvement because we are working with DMZ zones and customized ports. If we can add featured customized port scanning and DMZ zone capability, then it will be a very great tool. It might be there, but we are not exploring it yet.
We are not exploring 100% of Kali Linux capabilities. If real-time customized port scanning can be added, for example, instead of a default port such as 8080 or 443, if we can use a customized port such as 9876, that capability would be great.
The only point that I didn't find on Kali Linux for now is the ability to customize port scanning.
For how long have I used the solution?
It has been only five to six months, and the team is getting used to it now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I should rate the stability of the product as average, good. I would rate it eight, minus two because I don't know about other capabilities.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Kali Linux has the capability to expand more, so I would rate it nine.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I won't compare Kali Linux with Linux from other vendors because we are installing it on top of Red Hat.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Kali Linux is okay—not pretty complex or very simple.
It could be simplified from Kali's side for a GUI user, but if we are doing it as command mode, it is okay. We don't find it very hard to install or pretty complex.
For a regular user, they might find it complex. For the technical staff, it's not very complex.
What about the implementation team?
Our DevOps team is doing it, so it is somewhat customized.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I won't compare Kali Linux with Linux from other vendors because we are installing it on top of Red Hat. We can say the competitors of Acunetix, such as Burp Suite and Qualys Guard, those are the real competitors. Kali Linux is good because Sysbench is one kind of tool that has the capability of port scanning, but we don't know much about Sysbench as of now.
What other advice do I have?
We are not working with the multi-language support function as of now because we are very new to it, so we are exploring the stuff entirely.
We are not working with the resource constrainer system function. We just use scanning for incoming and outgoing data services as of now.
We are not exploring 100% of Kali Linux capabilities. If real-time customized port scanning can be added, for example, instead of a default port such as 8080 or 443, if we are able to use a customized port such as 9876, that capability would be great.
I prefer not to comment further because we are very new to the tool. We don't explore 100%, so I can't comment on it with my capacity right now.
I'm not sure about the pricing model because we got a community version of Kali Linux. The customer has purchased it, so I'm not sure about the pricing.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate Kali Linux an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
💡 For anyone still trying to figure out the correct SSH username:
Just adding to the conversation because this wasn’t smooth sailing for me either — but also, I’m a beginner.
When I first launched the AMI in us-east-1, I tried logging in with the username kali and it didn’t work. So I tried the other usual suspects: root, ec2-user, admin — nothing worked.
Eventually, after some trial and error (terminating the instance and starting fresh using the same key pair), I used root again and saw the message from the Kali devs saying that kali is the correct username. I tried it again — and this time it worked.
The first time I used root I didn’t get that message at all. The second time I did. No idea why kali didn’t work initially, or why I didn’t get the dev message the first time. Maybe the instance wasn’t fully initialized yet, maybe I made a typo, maybe it’s just AWS being AWS.
If you’re hitting the same wall, don’t assume you’re doing something wrong — it might just take a few tries. It may have absolutely nothing to do with whether you “read the instructions.” I read them too. Still had issues.
✅ Try terminating the instance and launching a fresh one. That’s what finally worked for me.
Just keep troubleshooting. You’ll get in. 💻🔥