In today’s digital age, cybersecurity is not just a buzzword but a necessity. Among the plethora of tools available to fortify our digital defenses, Nikto, a powerful and versatile web server scanner, stands out.

Its capabilities to detect and probe potential vulnerabilities in web servers are unmatched.

Let’s delve into what makes Nikto an indispensable tool for web developers and cybersecurity enthusiasts alike.

Nikto is an open-source web server scanner written in Perl.

It performs comprehensive tests against web servers, identifying potential security vulnerabilities and problematic configurations.

Unlike many other tools, Nikto is designed to detect over 6,700 potentially dangerous files/CGIs, checks for outdated versions of over 1,250 servers, and version-specific issues on over 270 servers.

• Scans multiple ports on a server, or multiple servers via a file input.
• Integrates with Metasploit Framework for additional analysis.
• Supports SSL, proxies, host authentication, and more.

Nikto initiates a scan by making a series of HTTP requests to the target web server.

It analyzes the responses from the server, comparing them against its database of known vulnerabilities and server issues.

The scanner checks for:

• Insecure files and CGI scripts.
• Outdated server software and specific version vulnerabilities.
• Potential issues related to server configuration and implementation.