Hey!

We all love the terminal. But what if I told you that some of the most powerful security tools are slo available, right at your fingertips, within your familiar terminal?

Let’s dive into five terminal applications that have become indispensable in my security toolkit.

1. age: Modern File Encryption

​age is a simple, modern file encryption tool that’s perfect for quickly securing sensitive data. Whether you’re using keys or passwords, age makes file encryption a breeze.

Generate a key with:​
$ age-keygen -o key.txt
​

Use the key generated pair for encryption:

# Using the public key for encryption

$ tar cvz ~/data | age -r ~your-key~ > data.tar.gz.age

# Using the private key for decryption!

$ age –decrypt -i key.txt data.tar.gz.age > data.tar.gz

2. sshs: SSH Made Easy

​sshs is a terminal user interface for SSH that takes the pain out of managing multiple server connections. It picks up your SSH config and presents your servers in a neat, easy-to-navigate list.

If you have an organized .sshconfig SSHS will read it and let you fuzzy search over a list of servers and use the configured settings to connect to the server.

3. atac: API Testing in the Terminal

​atac (Arguably a terminal API client) brings the power of Postman to your command line. It’s perfect for testing and debugging API endpoints without leaving your terminal.

Atac takes some getting used to but having the ability to shoot HTTP requests from the terminal while keeping persistency and organization has completely transformed the way I work!

4. termshark: Network Analysis at Your Fingertips

​termshark is a terminal interface for Wireshark, allowing you to monitor and analyze network traffic right from your command line. It’s a game-changer for quick network diagnostics.

If you’re a Wireshark user, or tshark (its little CLI brother) you’d love how termshark wraps around tshark with navigation panels right within in the terminal.

5. portal: Secure File Transfer

​portal is a sleek file transfer utility that works in your terminal. It makes sending files between computers secure and straightforward.

Make sure it’s installed both on the sending the receiving end (there are multiple methods available for most platforms), then send your file(s): ​
portal send
​

On the receiving end run the command given to you on the previous step, it should look something like this: ​
portal receive 1-intertia-elliptical-celestial
​

The two systems will try to create a connection either through a relay server or directly, depending on what’s available.

And voila! Your files and folders are safely moved.

These tools are lightweight, fast to set up, and they leverage the command line interface you’re already familiar with. In a security pinch, your terminal can be your best friend, giving you the power to encrypt files, manage SSH connections, test APIs, analyze network traffic, and transfer files securely.

I hope you enjoyed this collection as I did.

Feel free to reply directly with questions, comments or just general feedback if you appreciate the occasional collection of useful tools!

Have a great weekend!