Tools highlighted in the show and provided by Kali Linux include Bluesniff, Bluetooth Scanner (btscanner), John the Ripper, Metasploit Framework, Nmap, Shellshock, and Wget.
Kali Linux's popularity grew when it was featured in multiple episodes of the TV series Mr. Most packages Kali uses are imported from the Debian repositories. Kali Linux is based on the Debian Testing branch. The third core developer, Raphaël Hertzog, joined them as a Debian expert. The name is sometimes incorrectly assumed to come from Kali the Hindu goddess. Originally, it was designed with a focus on kernel auditing, from which it got its name Kernel Auditing Linux. It was developed by Mati Aharoni and Devon Kearns of Offensive Security through the rewrite of BackTrack, their previous information security testing Linux distribution based on Knoppix. Kali Linux has around 600 pre-installed penetration-testing programs (tools), including Armitage (a graphical cyber attack management tool), Nmap (a port scanner), Wireshark (a packet analyzer), metasploit (penetration testing framework, awarded as the best penetration testing software), John the Ripper (a password cracker), sqlmap (automatic SQL injection and database takeover tool), Aircrack-ng (a software suite for penetration-testing wireless LANs), Burp suite and OWASP ZAP web application security scanners, etc.
