Kali Linux 2020.2: New look, new packages, new installer options
Offensive Security has released Kali Linux 2020.2, the latest iteration of the popular open source penetration testing platform.
Kali Linux 2020.2 changes
There are several cosmetic changes in this newest Kali Linux release:
- Dark and light themes are now available for the KDE Plasma desktop environment
- The login screen got new graphics and a new layout
- New package logos for each tool
Other changes include:
- PowerShell has become more accessible: it has been moved from the Kali Linux’s network repository to the kali-linux-large metapackage, meaning that it will be ready for use if users choose to install this metapackage during system setup or later, once Kali is up and running (through a simple command)
- After recently switching the default “root/toor” credentials to “kali/kali” for desktop images and making the default user account a standard, unprivileged (non-root) user, Offensive Security decided to do the same for ARM images (“alternate flavors” of Kali for different ARM hardware)
- New packages: the latest version of the GNOME desktop environment (v3.36), Joplin (an open source note taking and to-do application), Nextnet (a pivot point discovery tool), SpiderFoot (automated OSINT collection for reconnaissance), and Python 3.8. Also, the module for Python 2 has been re-included temporarily because some tools still need it
- Kali’s Mobile pentesting platform, Kali NetHunter, got support for additional devices
- New changes/options in the installer.