Ethical Hacking in the Saudi Government Institutions

Abstract

The Internet has become indispensable to governments by allowing them to conduct E-government, provide better citizen service, improve communications, and access needed information rapidly. While computer networks have revolutionized the way governmental institutions operate, the risks they introduce via interconnectivity can be devastating. Attacks on computer systems via the Internet can lead to lost money, time, reputation, and sensitive information. One reaction to this state of affairs is a behaviour termed “Ethical Hacking” which attempts to proactively increase security protection by indenturing and patching known security vulnerabilities on systems owned by other parties. The main purpose of this study is to address the problems related to the ethical hacking in governmental institutions in Saudi Arabia. The results show that there is a lack of awareness to issues of information security, and ethical hacking, Ethical hacking have a positive impact on the Saudi institutions, and most of ethical hacking problems in Saudi Arabia are related to senior management, staff, society and laws. More researches are needed to consider other measures and include other countries which may show different results.