Hack-Proof Your Network with The Pwn Pad Android Tablet Kit

The folks at Pwnie Express make some of the coolest penetration-testing products on the planet. Its most-popular offering has been the "Pwn Plug", an inconspicuous mini-PC that plugs into a wall socket and looks little different than a large power adapter. Then there's the "Power Pwn", a product sharing a similar idea, but offers additional functionality and AC power sockets to take advantage of.

While the company doesn't condone unethical hacking, its products are designed in such a way that it allows those wanting to potentially breach security to do so easier. Few people are going to walk by a Pwn Plug or Power Pwn and think too much of it, as they do look like normal adapters. But to those making use of them, they offer major potential to dig deeper into the internal networks. That said, the ideal market for Pwnie Express' products are IT professionals who want an all-in-one solution that makes pentesting more convenient (but not easier; you still need to understand what you're doing).

With the current popularity of tablets, it seemed inevitable that the company would end up releasing something for them - but I admit I expected it to come in the form of an OS or software package, not an actual tablet itself. But it has, and it looks rather attractive for pentesters. Oddly, no specs on the tablet are given - not even the vendor - but it does boast the ability to run both Android 4.2 and Ubuntu 12.04, so its performance can't be too poor.

In terms of software, the tablet features a wide-variety of tools to accomplish most, if not all, of the tasks that a tester would need. We have apps like Nmap, Aircrack, Kismet and Ettercap for scanning a network and sniffing packets and exploit tools like Metasploit, SET, Hydra and JTR - plus a lot more. Being that the tablet runs Ubuntu, if there is a piece of software you happen to need that's not installed, getting that done shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

Because it's a tablet, wireless functionality is built-in, but can be further improved with a dongle. Going the USB dongle route would also allow you to open up an Ethernet connection in the event you're able to actually gain access to the network.

Pwnie Express expects the Pwn Pad to begin shipping in April, where it will retail for $795.