Different ethical hacking certificates- provides eligibility and authorization to ethical hackers
Different level of certificates depicts the level of expertise of ethical hackers
Ethical hacking is a vast field and is broadening its scope. An ethical hacker should master at least in one of the domains and should have basic knowledge of ethical hacking including denial of service, cryptography, buffer overflow, SQL injection, penetration testing, web application security, smart device security, different viruses, malicious softwares, social engineering, etc. before any application of certifications.
Like any other computer engineering degree’s and courses, there are different resources including formal and informal courses for ethical hackers. Formal courses are degrees and certifications offered by different institutes and universities.
As it is an emerging field, some universities are planning and some have started offering a degree in ethical hacking but still, this process is in an early stage and will require some time to get recognition and acceptance throughout the world. Different universities and institutes do offer courses and certifications but doesn’t have a complete dedicated degree for ethical hacking. There are different types of courses that help in providing the basic knowledge for the computer science students who are interested in ethical hacking and want to choose it as a career. Some of the basic knowledge for ethical hacking are:
- Operating system
- Computer architecture
- Information technology
- Computer security
- Network security, networking skills
- Data communication
- Mathematics
- Different programming languages including Python, Java, HTML, and Swift
- Data structures
- Database administration and management skills
- LINUX scripting
- Windows Command line and scripting skills
- Visualization machines and networks
- Security technologies and algorithms
- Hacking tools
There are different certifications and courses that can help prove to be the most reliable formal source for ethical hacking. There are different certification that are renowned and recognized throughout the world to be called a certified ethical hacker.
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
A certificate for ethical hacker, one should get authorization from EC-Council. EC-Council stands for the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants. They certified hackers as ethical hackers. CEH contains different level of ethical hacking starting from entry-level to intermediate to advanced level. An entry-level certificate means that the person has the basic theoretical knowledge of ethical hacking. It also provides basic security and protection guidelines to protect against potential attacks. Some of the common topics that need basic knowledge for any type of hacking is network scanning, sniffing of data, hijacking servers, SQL injections, system hacking, network hacking, and social engineering. This certificate requires to pass an exam which lasts about four hours. This exam is mainly multiple choice questions. After the CEH theoretical exam, there is a practical exam. This practical exam provides an opportunity to obtain an intermediate level certificate. This exam is about six hours and demands the applicants to demonstrate their practical use of theoretical knowledge obtained during the entry-level certificate. This intermediate-level certificate includes a total of twenty practical problems which needs to be solved on a virtual network.
Other than these two certifications, EC-Council also has “Certified Network Defense Architect (CNDA)” certificate. It is a high-level course certificate and CEH certificate holders are eligible to apply for this credential. Along with that, the applicant should also be a part of the government agency, military agency, or an employee of the US government.
Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)
It is a certificate that proves that the certified ethical hackers are not only allowed to hack but according to the approved standards and protocols. It proves that an ethical hacker is professional and is allowed to perform penetration testing on provided vulnerable devices. This certificate is given by passing penetration testing and deliver a detailed report of their discoveries. It is a weightage certificate by recognizing the talents of ethical hackers and is a difficult certification to achieve.
These certificates are becoming an essential requirements for ethical hackers to get a job in the industry. These certificates are only given to ethical hackers after tough tests and one way or the other recognizes the talent of an ethical hacker.