Member Article

Ethical hacker could help protect your business

A local IT expert is warning businesses about the dangers professional hackers post to their company.

Richard Wilkinson, managing director of Dimasoft IT security systems is an Ethical Hacker, and works with clients to test their security systems for weaknesses in relation to possible attack by malicious viruses and hackers.

“People tend to focus so much on deterring cyber attack that they forget about another source of potential danger: The Human Factor,” he said.

“A hacker, often working on behalf of another agency, may not focus all his efforts on breaching your firewalls through cyber attack. All sorts of techniques can be used and the easiest way is to either gain the support of an insider or get entry to your systems through deceit.”

Richard and his team use a range of unusual techniques to test out security systems, including bluffing their way onto a client’s premises or phoning clients posing as IT staff to ask for passwords.

He added: “ Some of the gadget used by hackers are like something out of a James Bond film. Someone intent in hacking into or hacking your IT system will use every trick in the book, and all of these techniques enable me to give a client’s systems a vigorous testing…and sometimes a good shaking!“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .