Backtrack, helix, phlak-the first one could be an acceptable answer, because any linux distribution could be effective in penetration testing. on the other hand the distributions in c) are more effective, since they have implemented software to help with penetration testing. backtrack is a linux distribution that is created from the merging of whax and auditor security collection. helix is more like a distribution that can be booted from a live cd and you can also boot it into a customized linux environment that has linux kernels. it focuses on incident response & forensics tools. phlak is a tool that is based on morphix and was designed to be the only tool security professionals would need to perform penetration testing, security analysis, forensics etc.