Bridging the Gap: A Survey and Classification of Research-Informed Ethical Hacking Tools

TL;DR

This paper surveys research-informed ethical hacking tools, categorizing them into process-based and knowledge-based frameworks, and analyzes their development, licensing, and peer review status to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive classification and analysis of research-informed EH tools, highlighting their features and the disconnect between academic research and practical application.

Findings

Research-informed tools are mainly categorized into process-based and knowledge-based frameworks.

Many tools lack open source availability and peer review, indicating room for increased academic validation.

The survey reveals a significant gap between academic research and industry practice in ethical hacking tools.

Abstract

The majority of Ethical Hacking (EH) tools utilised in penetration testing are developed by practitioners within the industry or underground communities. Similarly, academic researchers have also contributed to developing security tools. However, there appears to be limited awareness among practitioners of academic contributions in this domain, creating a significant gap between industry and academia's contributions to EH tools. This research paper aims to survey the current state of EH academic research, primarily focusing on research-informed security tools. We categorise these tools into process-based frameworks (such as PTES and Mitre ATT\&CK) and knowledge-based frameworks (such as CyBOK and ACM CCS). This classification provides a comprehensive overview of novel, research-informed tools, considering their functionality and application areas. The analysis covers licensing, release dates, source code availability, development activity, and peer review status, providing valuable insights into the current state of research in this field.