Parrot Security (Parrot OS)
The operating system for cybersecurity operations
Parrot OS is a free, open-source Linux distribution derived from Debian, designed for penetration testing, security research, privacy-focused computing, and everyday development. It provides a lightweight, modular environment that can be tailored to specific workflows, with rolling updates that keep the system current. The distribution supports live use before installation, persistent storage in live mode, and verification of downloads through release hashes and signed repositories.
The platform offers several editions: Security Edition for penetration testing and red team operations, Home Edition for daily use and development, HTB Edition for CTF and Hack The Box challenges, Raspberry Pi Edition for ARM devices, and Special Editions for cloud or container deployments. Security Edition includes a large collection of tools spanning forensics, wireless testing, exploit development, and reverse engineering, with named tools such as Metasploit Framework, Wireshark, Aircrack-ng, John the Ripper, Ghidra, Radare2, Burp Suite Community, Nmap, Netcat, Autopsy, Sleuth Kit, SQLmap, and Hydra. Additional packaging options include Docker images, Vagrant boxes, WSL for Windows 10/11, UTM for Apple Silicon, and a Debian conversion script. Pwnbox provides a browser-accessible virtual environment.
Parrot OS is aimed at penetration testers, researchers, students, and enterprises. It is distributed as free, open-source software under the GPL, with no paid editions or usage-based pricing described.
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