Kali Linux 2.0 released: New 4.0 kernel, improved hardware and wireless driver coverage

Kali Linux, the open source penetration testing platform, has reached version 2.0.

Kali Linux 2.0 comes with a 4.0 kernel, now based on Debian Jessie. It features improved hardware and wireless driver coverage, support for a variety of Desktop Environments (gnome, kde, xfce, mate, e17, lxde, i3wm), and much more.

The biggest news? Kali is now a rolling distribution. “What this means is that we are pulling our packages continuously from Debian Testing (after making sure that all packages are installable) – essentially upgrading the Kali core system, while allowing us to take advantage of newer Debian packages as they roll out. This move is where our choice in Debian as a base system really pays off – we get to enjoy the stability of Debian, while still remaining on the cutting edge,” according to Mati Aharoni, Kali Linux core developer.

The new version includes an upstream version checking system, which means core tool updates will happen more frequently.

“The whole ARM image section has been updated across the board with Kali 2.0 – including Raspberry Pi, Chromebooks, Odroids… The whole lot! In the process, we’ve added some new images – such as the latest Chromebook Flip. Another helpful change we’ve implemented in our ARM images is including kernel sources, for easier compilation of new drivers,” added Aharoni.