BackTrack

BackTrack is a Linux distribution designed for penetration testing and digital forensics. Built on a Debian-based foundation, it was distributed as a live CD/DVD and later as a bootable USB image, allowing security professionals to perform assessments from a portable environment without a full installation.

Originating as an evolution of the Whax distribution, BackTrack was developed by a team including Mati Aharoni and Max Moser along with other contributors. It was first released in 2006 and quickly gained popularity for its integrated toolkit. The project packaged a broad collection of security tools—spanning network discovery and vulnerability assessment, exploitation, wireless analysis, forensics, and password cracking—often hundreds of tools in a single distribution. It provided a preconfigured desktop environment intended to streamline professional workflows.

Legacy and transition: Over its lifespan, BackTrack released several major versions and became widely used in professional training, security testing, and research. The project was eventually superseded by Kali Linux, a separate distribution created and maintained by Offensive Security to provide a more robust and actively supported platform. As a result, BackTrack was discontinued in favor of Kali, which continues the lineage of its security-oriented tooling and approach.

Legal and usage notes: The tools included in BackTrack are powerful and can be misused. Proper authorization is required for any testing of systems, and the distribution is intended for lawful security work, education, and research.