Comparing Traditional Hacking Tools and AI-Driven Alternatives

Traditional hacking tools continue to evolve, providing hackers with powerful means to exploit vulnerabilities, which increases the demand for effective countermeasures by cybersecurity specialists. These tools, while often associated with malicious use, are also essential for legitimate activities like Penetration Testing or Vulnerability Assessment. New simulator and emulator tools combine the functionality of previous existing tools into an all-in-one integrated solution, like the MITRE Caldera emulator platform and the Cyberwheel simulator. These platforms have been enhanced with new AI agents in the decision-making process allowing the autonomous execution of defensive and offensive actions according to a specific attack type which is the case of Cyberwheel. We compare the features of these three tool categories, traditional Hacking tools, all-in-one tools such as MITRE Caldera, and AI-driven tools such as the Cyberwheel simulator, in terms of attack actions supported, integration of different techniques and the advantage of using AI. We conclude that all-in-one solutions are a good starting point to explore developments in AI -driven defensive and offensive actions. In particular, the Cyberwheel simulator proved the feasibility of using AI -driven agents to perform defensive and offensive actions according to the MITRE ATT &CK Framework.