What is ethical hacking?
Ethical hackers are hacking good guys, called white hat hackers, who work with organizations to identify and address network and system vulnerabilities that could be exploited by bad guys, or black hat hackers. It’s a way for organizations to keep their data safe from cybercriminals.
What are the skills of an ethical hacker?
- Perform network scanning to identify live and vulnerable machines in a network
- Perform OS banner grabbing, service and user enumeration
- Perform system hacking, steganography and steganalysis attacks, and cover your tracks
- Identify and use viruses, computer worms and malware to exploit systems
- Perform packet sniffing
- Conduct a variety of web server and web application attacks including directory traversal, parameter tampering, XSS and more
- Perform SQL injection attacks and different types of cryptography attacks
- Perform vulnerability analysis to identify security loopholes in the target organization’s network, communications infrastructure and end systems
Who should be an ethical hacker?
- Network analysts
- Security analysts
- Software engineers
- Website administrators
- Security auditors
- Security consultants
- Security officers
- Security researchers
- Security technicians
- Information technology professionals in business, government, the military and other organizations with two or more years of experience
- Students who have graduated with a four-year degree in cybersecurity
Why should I learn about ethical hacking and get my certification?
More than 300,000 cybersecurity jobs were open in the U.S. as of early 2020 and the figure could top 3 million globally in 2021, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology and others. Certified Ethical Hackers are security professionals that stay up to date with advances in cybersecurity generally and penetration testing specifically.
The Certified Ethical Hacker certification meets the Department of Defense Directive 8140 certification standards, which is required for certain job classifications. The U.S. Department of Defense is one of the largest employers for cybersecurity professionals.
What is CEH v10?
The Certified Ethical Hacker certification, overseen by the EC-Council, is in its 10th iteration. The EC-Council states that a Certified Ethical Hacker “is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker, but in a lawful and legitimate manner to assess the security posture of a target system(s).”
What is the EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker exam overview?
The Certified Ethical Hacker certification exam through the EC-Council takes four hours and includes more than 100 multiple choice questions that cover topics such as malware and denial of service attacks, hijacking web servers and apps, hacking wireless networks and mobile devices, evading firewalls, and other protective systems, cryptography, and more.
Already employed, need this to grow in your career?
Email us at centr@purdue.edu and we will assist you with what you need for your employer.
How much does an ethical hacker make?
In May 2020, PayScale.com reported that Ethical Hackers earned a median annual income of $85,000.
How do I start?
Ethical hacking is in high demand and Purdue’s Certified Ethical Hacker program will train you on how to find vulnerabilities in information systems. With this four-week comprehensive online bootcamp, you will be ready to sit for the CEH exam and receive an exam voucher good for up to one year once you complete the course. Your investment in this course also gives you the following:
- 50 hours of instructor-led training (and 90 days of access to videos of the sessions so you can watch them anytime, anywhere)
- Access to over 140 hands-on labs, quizzes, and practice tests
- An included electronic textbook