Kali Linux 2020.1 released: New tools, Kali NetHunter rootless, and more!

Offensive Security have released Kali Linux 2020.1, which is available for immediate download.

Kali Linux 2020.1 key new features

The popular open source project, which is heavily relied upon in the pentest community, is introducing several new features, including new packages and tools. The key new features include:

Changes in the default credentials – Kali is abandoning the default ‘root/toor’ credentials and moving to ‘kali/kali’. This is a very big change as root has been the default for Kali since its inception.

Kali Single Installer Image – The Offensive Security team, having audited what images are downloaded most often from the platform, have completely restructured and simplified the images that will be released going forward. From now on there will be an installer image, a live image, and a network installer image, allowing for easier selection of the right image for each user while also increasing flexibility. There will no longer be separate images for every desktop environment.

Nethunter Changes – Kali’s Mobile pentesting platform, Kali Nethunter, will no longer require users to root their phone in order to run it.

New Packages – While Kali is a rolling distribution and therefor users don’t need to wait for the “next release” for updates, the team has added several new tools since Kali 2019.4, including `cloud-enum`, `emailharvester`, `phpggc`, `sherlock`, `splinter`.