hNix OS

hNix OS is an open source and free software project forked from the MyLab@Home project and designed from the ground up to act as a GNU/Linux operating system that is vulnerable to attacks and contains various exploits and security-oriented software.

Distributed as virtual machine

The hNix OS project is distributed as a virtual machine for the VMware and Oracle VirtualBox virtualization software in the VMDK (Virtual Machine Disk) format, which has approximately 6.5 GB in size, but it’s archived with the RAR compression algorithm to obtain a downloadable archive that has only 1.3 GB in size.

Getting started with hNix OS

Once the rar archive has been downloaded on your computer, extract it to a location of your choice in order to access the VMDK file, which can be added as a disk image on the Oracle VirtualBox or VMware applications.

To add the VMDK file on VirtualBox, open the application, make sure that you already have a virtual machine created (if not, create one now without a disk image), go to the Storage section of its settings and add the VMDK file by pressing on the second + sign next to the Controller: SATA entry.

Uses the KDE desktop environment

The operating system uses the KDE desktop environment, which comprises of a traditional layout with a taskbar located on the bottom edge of the screen, allowing the user to easily navigate the main menu, launch his/her favorite apps, interact with running programs, cycle between virtual workspaces and access the system tray area.

Comes pre-loaded with a BackTrack toolkit

Among various popular applications, such as VLC Media Player, XVidCap, Acroread, Wink and TrueCrypt, the distribution also comes pre-loaded with a BackTrack toolkit that includes a wide range of tools for hacking, digital forensics and penetration testing operations.