Cyber Security and Ethical Hacking For SMEs

Abstract

Literature posits that 30,000 SME websites are hacked daily. Thus it is acknowledged that web-based tools are essential to prevent cyber criminals hacking into online networks to comprise their services and gain access to confidential data for improper purposes. We consider the concept of Ethical Hacking where authorized hackers attempt to infiltrate a business's systems/networks on behalf of the owners with the intention of finding security weaknesses. However such security measures are costly and many SMEs lack the knowledge and resources to accomplish this.

Utilizing an SME case study we provide insights into how Ethical Hacking, in the form of Penetration Testing using free open source tools, can be used by SMEs to protect their network's services/operations. Using Nmap, Google Hacking, Nessus and Brutus we uncovered 232 network vulnerabilities. Thus measures were put in to place to resolve these vulnerabilities and prevent the case study's sensitive data from future cyber threats.