With an alarming spike in cyber threats today, it's more crucial than ever to ensure your system's security. The best shield against these potential threats? Penetration testing. Also known as 'Pen testing' or ethical hacking, this practice involves probing your own system with the same tactics cybercriminals would use, aiming to unearth vulnerabilities before the bad actors do. The key here is to employ the 'best free Penetration testing tools'. Let's take a deep dive into these tools and discover how they can keep your system fortified against cyber risks in 2022.

Why Free Penetration Testing Tools?

The global cyber threat landscape is ever-changing. With new strains of viruses, malware, and various types of cyber-attacks cropping up constantly, maintaining a secure infrastructure is more challenging than ever. Hence, it's paramount that organizations, big or small, perform regular Penetration testing. Thankfully, some of the best free Penetration testing tools come to the rescue, providing even small businesses an affordable means of fortifying their cybersecurity.

The Characteristics of the Best Free Penetration Testing Tools

Despite being free, the best Penetration testing tools need to fulfill certain criteria to be effective. The ideal tool should provide a detailed vulnerability report, support multiple testing techniques, present user-friendly interfaces, and adhere to the latest cybersecurity standards.

A List of Top Free Penetration Testing Tools of 2022

Without further ado, let's take a look at some of the best free Penetration testing tools 2022 has to offer:

1. Wireshark

Wireshark is a highly popular network protocol analyzer that facilitates packet sniffing and real-time network analysis. It's compatible with Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeBSD and others. Skilled testers can view packet-level data, identify network vulnerabilities, and troubleshoot issues efficiently with Wireshark.

2. Metasploit Framework

The Metasploit Framework stands as one of the best free Penetration testing tools largely due to its versatility. This tool focuses on providing information about security vulnerabilities and aids in Penetration testing and IDS signature development.

3. Nmap ('Network Mapper')

Nmap is an open-source tool designed for security auditing and network exploration. This tool can generate a network map, detect live hosts, perform port scanning, device fingerprinting and identify vulnerabilities within the network.

4. OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy)

OWASP ZAP is one of the world's most widely-used free security tools. It helps you automatically find security vulnerabilities in your web applications while you are developing and testing them.

5. Nessus

Nessus is a network vulnerability scanning tool. Its features include high-speed discovery, configuration auditing, asset profiling, sensitive data discovery, and vulnerability analysis.

6. OpenVAS (Open Vulnerability Assessment Scanner)

OpenVAS is a full-featured vulnerability scanner. Its capabilities include unauthenticated testing, authenticated testing, various high-level/low-level internet and industrial protocols, performance tuning for large-scale scans, and a powerful internal programming language to implement any type of vulnerability test.

Taking Advantage of These Tools

Penetration testing provides an essential blueprint to fix your system vulnerabilities, making them an integral part of any cybersecurity strategy. From identifying network vulnerabilities, sniffing packets, scanning ports, to developing IDS signatures - these tools provide a host of functionalities to thwart potential cyber threats. So, leveraging these best free Penetration testing tools should be a top priority for any conscious netizen or organization in the year 2022.

In conclusion, cybersecurity can't be taken lightly in this digital age. With attackers becoming more advanced and versatile, it is pertinent for you to stay one step ahead. As such, penetration testing serves as an integral part of your cybersecurity arsenal, providing the first line of defense against potential threats. Employing the best free penetration testing tools can help you locate and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited, thereby allowing you to maintain a secure digital presence. These tools don't just provide security, but also give you peace of mind - and that is something you cannot put a price tag on. The value these tools bring towards maintaining robust cybersecurity posture speaks volumes about their importance in the present-day context. So, dive in, explore these tools, and fortify your system in 2022.