Want to practice penetration testing???

Legally of course...this is not something you just try on your neighbor's systems. Create a lab at home and have at it.

You will find these penetration testing distribution(Operating Systems) scattered all over the Internet for download...yes it's free. There is a learning curve for those of you not familiar with Linux commands but repetition will create muscle memory.

The most common Operating System that is used is Backtrack (Linux Distribution built off of Ubuntu). Yes, Ubuntu! If you're familiar with that, you should pick it up quicker than most. You can download it here

Here are some others:

BLACKBUNTU

• This is probably closer to Backtrack than any of these Download

GnackTrack

• Gnome style distribution Download

BackBox Linux

• Has its own software repositories, always being updated to the latest stable version of the most used and best known ethical hacking tools.Download

Matriux

• Open source distribution for ethical hacking and penetration testers Download

Samurai WTF Framework

• Primarily for web application testing. Download

Reference: http://securityblog.gr/1240/backtrack-alternative-and-similar-software/