Few days ago the release of the new version of Kali Linux 2021.2 was announced and includes new topics and features, such as privileged port access, new tools, and a console-based configuration utility.
For those who are unaware of the distribution should know that is designed to test systems for vulnerabilities, perform audits, analyze residual information and identify the consequences of attacks by cybercriminals.
Time includes one of the most comprehensive collections of tools for IT security professionals, from tools for testing web applications and penetration of wireless networks to programs for reading data from RFID chips. The kit includes a collection of exploits and more than 300 specialized security inspection utilities such as Aircrack, Maltego, SAINT, Kismet, Bluebugger, Btcrack, Btscanner, Nmap, p0f.
In addition, the distribution includes tools to accelerate the selection of passwords (Multihash CUDA Brute Forcer) and WPA keys (Pyrit) through the use of CUDA and AMD Stream technologies, which allow the use of NVIDIA and AMD video card GPUs to perform computational operations.
Kali Linux 2021.2 Key New Features
In this new version of Kali Linux 2021.2 Kaboxer 1.0 is introduced, who allows you to deliver applications that run in an isolated container. A feature of Kaboxer is that such application containers are delivered through the standard package management system and installed using the apt utility.
There are currently three containerized applications in the distribution: Covenant, Firefox Developer Edition, and Zenmap.
Another change that stands out is that Kali-Tweaks 1.0 utility has been proposed with an interface to simplify the configuration of Kali Linux. Utility allows you to install additional thematic toolkits, change the shell prompt (Bash or ZSH), enable experimental repositories, and change parameters to run inside virtual machines.
Also the Backend has been completely redesigned to keep the Bleeding-Edge branch with the latest packages and a kernel patch has been added to disable the restriction on connecting controllers to privileged network ports. Opening a listening socket on ports below 1024 no longer requires extended privileges.
Also Full support for the Raspberry Pi 400 monoblock has been added and compilations for Raspberry Pi boards have been improved (Linux kernel has been updated to version 5.4.83, Bluetooth operation is ensured on Raspberry Pi 4 boards, new kalipi-config and kalipi- tft- config, the first boot time has been reduced from 20 minutes to 15 seconds).
Of the other changes that stand out from this new version:
- Added the ability (CTRL + p) to quickly switch between a one-line and two-line command prompt in the terminal.
- Improvements have been made to the Xfce-based user interface.
- The capabilities of the quick launch panel, located in the upper left corner, have been expanded (a terminal selection menu has been added, default shortcuts are provided for the browser and text editor).
- In Thunar's file manager, the context menu offers an option to open a directory as root.
- New wallpapers have been proposed for the desktop and the login screen.
- Added Docker images for ARM64 and ARM v7 systems.
- Implemented support for installing the Parallels Tools package on devices with an Apple M1 chip.
Download and get Kali Linux 2021.2
For those who are interested in being able to test or directly install the new version of the distro on their computers, they should know that they can download a full ISO image on the official website of the distribution.
Builds are available for x86, x86_64, ARM architectures (armhf and armel, Raspberry Pi, Banana Pi, ARM Chromebook, Odroid). In addition to the basic compilation with Gnome and a reduced version, variants are offered with Xfce, KDE, MATE, LXDE and Enlightenment e17.
Finally yes You are already a Kali Linux user, you just have to go to your terminal and execute the following command that will be in charge of updating your system, so it is necessary to be connected to the network to be able to carry out this process.
apt update && apt full-upgrade