👋 Introduction

In today’s threat landscape, having the right tools can be the difference between a breach and a near-miss. But not everyone has a six-figure security budget.

That’s why I curated this no-BS list of five powerful cybersecurity tools—totally free and ready to deploy. Use them to detect, defend, and automate your security operations, whether you're solo or part of a team.

1️⃣ OSQuery – Visibility, Command-Line Style

🔍 What it is: Turns your OS into a queryable database

💻 Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

🚀 Use it for:

• Endpoint visibility

• Threat hunting

• Compliance tracking

  📥 osquery.io

✅ Think SQL meets system internals—powerful, lightweight, and free.

2️⃣ Wazuh – The Swiss Army Knife of Monitoring

🛠️ What it is: All-in-one security monitoring platform

📊 Features:

• Intrusion detection

• Log analysis

• File integrity monitoring

• Compliance dashboards

  🎯 Ideal for: SIEM-lite operations or SOCs on a budget

  📥 wazuh.com