50 Open Source Tools To Replace Popular Security Software

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While it's pretty painless to convert from commercial office software to an open source version, if you'd like to replace commercial security products with open source counterparts, you'll likely have to do some work.

You may need to combine several open source tools to get the functionality you get from a single commercial product. Or you may need to educate yourself about underlying technology before you find the open source applications usable.

However, open source security tools do offer a great deal of flexibility – not to mention cost advantages. If you want complete control over the way your network functions, having access to the source code gives you that ability.

For this list, we've compiled a set of open source security tools and their commercial counterparts. We're not suggesting that the open source apps have all the same features and use the same methods as the commercial products they can replace.

Instead, we're saying that they provide end users with some of the same benefits and deserve consideration, particularly as businesses small and large look for ways to stretch their budgets.

Open Source Tools: Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware, Anti-Spyware, Application Firewall, Backup, Browser Add-Ons. PAGE ONE.

Open Source Tools: Data Removal, Encryption. PAGE TWO.

Open Source Tools: File Transfer, Forensics, Gateway/Unified Threat Management Appliances, Intrusion Detection, Network Firewalls. PAGE THREE.

Open Source Tools: Network Monitoring, Password Crackers, Password Management, User Authentication, Web Filtering. PAGE FOUR.