Security "LiveCDs"

The Register has an interesting article entitled Live CD paradise which describes the growing number of Linux LiveCDs - bootable Linux images. The cool thing about some of the security focused LiveCDs is is that they contain a huge array of security tools all one simple package. And as the CDs are bootable, you can run them directly on your laptop (or desktop) without having to load any OS software. You can find a full list of Live CDs at The Live CD List, which shows hundreds of ditros you can download and use pretty much immediately. Sixteen of the listed downloads are security related.

The Register's article discusses 5 separate security LiveCDs, including Knoppix and Auditor. According to the Register's article, Audiotr comes complete with working wireless sniffing tools (e.g. Kismet) that work out of the box - just boot your CD and so long as your wireless card is supported you can start sniffing. As soon as I've downloaded this CD, I'll be testing it out!