Abstract

The outbreak of cyber-crime in Nigeria in recent times is quite alarming, and the negative impact on the socio-economy of the country is highly disturbing.  This is because cyber-crimes have gone beyond conventional crimes and now have threatening ramifications to the national security of all countries particularly Nigeria. The illegal act may be targeted at a computer network or devices e.g., computer virus, malware and may be facilitated by computer network or devices with target independent of the computer network or device. Thus, the issue of cyber security and ethical hacking has become imperative. This paper explained cybercrimes types, cyber security and its importance. It also explained ethical hacking and reviewed literature on cyber security and ethical hacking. The literature was searched from databases including Google Scholar, search engines and ResearchGate. Based on literature reviewed it shows that ethical hacking is an aspect of cyber security to ensure the security of netizens. The paper recommended that Cyber security and ethical hacking professionals should understand the legal and ethical boundaries of cyber security and hacking. They should ensure proper authorization before attempting to hack systems, even in a controlled environment.