The unprecedented rise in cyber crime and the role of the human vulnerability factor

This chapter will discuss the important topic of ethical hacking, also known as penetration testing. It will start by explaining the constituents of ethical hacking: scope and goal setting, exploitation, and documentation. The authors will define and explain the reasons for the rapid rise in cyber-crimes and their socio-economic impact. It will further discuss the steps involved in ethical hacking, who is allowed to conduct ethical hacking, its importance, and the role it plays in deterring future and potential hackers. The chapter will analyze the various types of malware and the steps to follow to become an ethical hacker. It will further describe social engineering, the types of cyber-attacks, the phases of attack, testing for vulnerabilities, and it will put forward a list of countermeasures. The chapter will end by detailing the steps to be taken in the documentation process and crafting the executive summary.