Steps to be An Ethical Hacker Legally

Certified Ethical Hacking

The fastest growing information technology careers is ethical hacking (often referred to as “white hat hacking”). The goal of an ethical
hacker is to beat illegal hackers at their own games.

To become a legal hacker, you need to get the right certification, which shows that you not only understand the technology and business implications of hacking to improve security but also that you understand the ethical requirements of legal hacking. In other words, you need to be a learn Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) to land a corporate, government, or consulting job in the field.

Certified ethical hackers spend their days looking for ways to attack information networks and systems. They search for ways to exploit vulnerable systems just as illegal hackers (often referred to as “black hat hackers”) do. Their findings help businesses and government organizations improve security and keep networks, systems, applications, and data safe from theft and fraud.

The Certified Ethical Hacker Certification and Exam

You can’t become a certified ethical hacker without the appropriate certification from the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants (the EC-Council). Certification requires that you pass a 4-hour exam, which includes 125 multiple-choice questions. The exam costs $500.

To prepare for the exam, you need to do some studying! Fortunately, there are many certified ethical hacking courses available to prepare for the exam. These courses will test you on everything from IT networking and programming to regulations and ethics and everything in between.

When you take a certification course, you’ll learn about a long list of technology-related topics that you’ll see on the exam, including:

• Reconnaissance
• Scanning networks
• Hacking wireless networks and web applications
• SQL injection
• Penetration testing
• Cryptography
• System hacking
• Trojans
• Worms
• Viruses
• Sniffers
• Denial of service (DOS) attacks
• Session hijacking
• Web server hacking
• Footprinting
• Firewalls
• Honeypots
• Phishing
• Identity theft
• URL obfuscation
• And more

Certification courses also provide you with Soft Skill training which is critical to your success as a certified ethical hacker. Social skills are used everyday in three primary ways:

• 1. Social Engineering

As a certified ethical hacker, you’ll need to convince people to give you their login credentials, execute files, or even shut down or restart systems. This is referred to as social engineering and it requires training and practice.

• 2. Problem Solving

When you’re trying to legally hack a system, you will encounter roadblocks. You need to be able to think through problems and come up with innovative solutions to achieve your goals.

• 3. Communication

You’ll be required to report your findings and make recommendations for your employer to improve security and eliminate vulnerabilities. That means you need to be able to effectively communicate with people at all levels across the organization to gather information and disseminate your results.

Certified ethical hacking might sound like a lot of fun, but there is a fine line between legal and illegal hacking. When you take a certification course, you’ll also learn about the laws and ethics of white hat hacking so you stay out of trouble. You’ll even be tested about the professional code of conduct that certified ethical hackers are expected to adhere to as part of your certification exam.

The key to becoming a certified ethical hacker is gaining some IT experience and combining it with the right certification. Once you have those credentials, you’ll be on your way to a new career!