Any information security experts here?

[Kate Mallet]

What are the must have tools for an information security professional? I have been reading about infosec for more than two years. I came to know that linux distributions like Kali and Backtrack are good for penetration testing and related information forensic tasks. I planned for getting certified Cisco security certifications.But I would like to learn the basic concepts before joining certification programs. So what should I do to get into Information Security? Here at Mississauga, companies like NCI offers training on information security practices. Is that enough? Looking forward to get some advice.

[essay]

Network World asked security pros to name their No. 1, must-have, go-to security tool. We received responses from industry analysts, enterprise security practitioners, academics, and members of industry associations. Many of the experts we interviewed pointed out that there is no silver bullet when it comes to security, so your best bet is a defense in depth strategy that combines as many of these approaches as possible.

[ericlarson88]

there are so many, depends on what u need, here are few.

Nmap
Wireshark
Cain & Abel
Sysinternals
inSSIDer
Maltego
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)
GnuPG
TrueCrypt
OWASP Mantra (start with the Firefox version)
Malwarebytes

[essay]

there are so many, depends on what u need, here are few.

Nmap
Wireshark
Cain & Abel
Sysinternals
inSSIDer
Maltego
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)
GnuPG
TrueCrypt
OWASP Mantra (start with the Firefox version)
Malwarebytes

What can you recommend us?