When it comes to information security, there are a number of divisions. First of all, this domain can be divided based on the technologies used. And then, the same can be done considering the business domains as each domain has its own information security requirements. Regardless how the division is done, the software used for information security remains the same. There are three types of information security software; information security implementation software, information security testing, and information security breach software. The last category of software is also called by another name; hacking software!
When it comes to information security software for implementation, these software facilitate the correct and accurate implementation of information security measurements. As an example, there are many tools used for implementing SSL, where the users can install SSL in their ecommerce servers without much trouble. In addition to that, there are a number of software designed and developed for role and user authentication such as LDAP and Microsoft Exchange server. These software makes sure that the certain information and network resources are accessed by the users who have the proper authentication. Apart from that, there are software developed for giving users access to specific and secure to networks. These networks are called Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and the software used for such access is called VPN software.
Information security software for testing one of the most important categories of software in information technology industry. These software are used to test how secure the information is. When it comes to information security software for testing, there are two categories; security testing and penetration testing. The information security software for security testing primarily focus on the application level security testing while the other category is more interested in testing the networks and related security aspects. Tools such as WebGoat and various network-sniffing software are used for testing purposes.
When it comes to information security software for security breach, there are many known and unknown tools. In some cases, security testing software are used as a hacking software, depending on the features of the software. Sometimes, information security software for testing are developed to become hacking software by the hackers and attackers on the Internet. In this category of software, there are many types of software ranging from a simple shell scripts to well designed software.
If someone is keen on becoming an information security professional, the person should have strong knowledge in the information security software used in the industry.