Top Certifications for Ethical Hacking
With rapid development in technology, cybercrimes & hacking cases are increasing these days. These hackers cause problems for businesses, their online presence, and social media platforms making it difficult for users to access the Internet safely. Here’s when Ethical Hackers come into play.
Who are Ethical Hackers?
Well, these people are hackers only, but in a positive context, unlike those notorious or “destructive” hackers. Ethical Hackers hack digital systems and accounts to evaluate or assess their security rather than trying to do malicious activities or crimes. These are white hat hackers who perform hacking legitimately. While black hat hackers use hacking techniques with the intention of fraud or other malice.
How to Become an Ethical Hacker?
An individual interested in programming and having decent coding knowledge can pursue a career in ethical hacking. Individuals need to get a certification to become a white hat hacker, security professional, or intrusion analyst, followed by pursuing an Ethical Hacking Course Online.
What are Ethical Hacking Certifications?
Ethical hacking certifications indicate the qualification of an individual in evaluating computer systems’ security and using penetration testing processes. These qualifications help candidates develop the required skills and become certified hackers. The certification comes with numerous advantages like;
- It helps comprehend vulnerabilities and risks affecting a company daily.
- It helps resolve misconceptions about hacking and gives a clear idea about the roles and responsibilities of a white hat hacker.
- It lets people understand that hacking is more than breaching an individual’s email and social media accounts.
- Through these certifications, people will learn about the types and tools of footprinting and countermeasures. They will also know about packet sniffing methods and methods to counter sniffing.
- The certifications provide information about enumeration techniques, network scanning, and their countermeasures. The certification holders will develop skills in Trojans, including analysis and countermeasures.
- Individuals will develop knowledge in the area of hijack methods and system hacking, steganalysis, steganography, virus analysis, covering tracks, viruses working, computer worms, malware analysis, and countermeasures.
7 Most Popular Ethical Hacking Certifications
- Certified Ethical Hacking (CEH) Certification
Certified Ethical Hacking Certification is one of the most popular certification programs offered to ethical hackers. A person with this certificate knows how to use their knowledge and tools lawfully to evaluate the security posture of a target system. The CEH qualification helps the professional act like a hacker and develop skills in prevention, detection and attack vendors, and penetration testing. With the knowledge of ethical hacking, the CEH professional will be able to help organizations to protect their data from cyber-attacks.
Requirements for CEH Certification – Candidates willing to earn this certification and qualify for the CEH exam, need to have 2 years of work experience in information security. They can fulfill this requirement by joining the official EC-Council Training.
- GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN)
GPEN Certification helps the candidates to become skilled in utilizing a process-oriented method for penetration-testing projects, conducting exploits and engaging in detailed reconnaissance. This certification shows that the practitioner can perform a penetration test using best practice methodologies and techniques. The main objectives of the GPEN Certification are exploitation fundamentals, advanced password attacks, pen-testing foundations, penetration testing, initial target scanning, vulnerability scanning, and moving files with exploits and web applications.
Requirements for GPEN Certification –There are no specific prerequisites for the GPEN certification. However, a candidate should have a basic understanding of the Windows Operating System and cryptographic concepts.
- Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)
An Offensive Security Certified Professional has the ability to violate a series of target machines and is responsible for producing detailed reports for each attack. An OSCP knows to apply, alter and attain public exploit code. Under this certification course, a candidate can give pen testing exams and be a part of other courses such as advanced Windows exploitation, web, and wireless. This certification shows the candidate’s accurate, practical and clear understanding of the penetration testing process.
Requirements for OSCP Certification –There are no certain requirements for the OSCP exam, but a candidate must be familiar with bash scripting, networking, Linux, and Python.
- CREST Certification
The Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers (CREST) is an international certification body that supports the technical information security industry. The CREST Certification given by this body is recognized around the globe. This certification is available for individuals and organizations on several fronts, including cyber incident response, penetration testing, security operations center services, and threat intelligence. CREST helps to develop high-quality capacity, consistency, and capability within the global technical cyber security segment.
Requirements for CREST –Companies wanting CREST certification should deliver consistent standards of services. There are four requirements for any member application. These are:
- Organization’s operating standards and procedures
- Personnel development and security
- Approach to testing
- Data security
- Certified Information System Auditor (CISA) Certification
A Certified Information System Auditor (CISA) is a globally recognized certification that shows an IT auditor’s skills, expertise, and knowledge in evaluating vulnerabilities and implementing IT controls in an organization. The certification validated the candidate’s skills and knowledge of security and risk management. The CISA certification holders are in charge of protecting, monitoring, and managing the company’s business and IT systems.
Requirements for CISA certification –Candidates who want to earn this certification must have at least 5 years of experience as a system auditor with the knowledge of security and control.
- Certified Penetration Testing Consultant (CPTC) Certification
The Certified Penetration Testing Consultant certification is made for IT network administrators and cybersecurity professionals who are interested in organizing penetration tests against large network infrastructures. Under this certification course, the candidate will develop skills to work as a penetration testing team and create buffer overflow against programs running on Linux and Windows. Through this certification, a candidate will also learn and build different concept codes based on exploits.
Requirements for CPTC certification – A candidate has to fulfill the following requirements to become a CPTC professional:
- Certified penetration testing engineer certification or equivalent knowledge.
- A minimum of 24 months of work experience in networking technologies.
- Sound knowledge of Internet Protocol (IP) or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).
- Knowledge of computer hardware.
- Certified Penetration Testing Engineer (CPTE) Certification
This certification is internationally accepted and is one of the crucial cyber security credentials. A candidate with the certified penetration testing engineer (CPTE) certification has knowledge and expertise in five major information security components: reporting, exploitation, data collection, scanning, and enumeration. This certification trains the candidate to become an ethical hacker and how to use hacker procedures. A CPTE professional possesses the skills required for identifying protection opportunities, optimizing security controls, and justifying testing activities to reduce risks related to working with the internet.
Requirements for CPTE certification – Interesting candidates have to meet the following prerequisites to earn the CPTE certification:
- A minimum of 12 months of work experience in networking technologies.
- Sound knowledge of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or Internet Protocol (IP).
- Knowledge of Microsoft packages.
- Basic Knowledge of Linux.
Conclusion
With the ever-increasing digital presence and dependability on the internet,[BP1] [GU2] the chances of getting attacked by a hacker have increased. These certifications will help develop a mindset like a hacker, discover an organization’s or individual’s weak points and protect it from vulnerabilities.
Ethical hacking is a key to solidifying network security and is one of the most demanding skills in the IT sector. These certifications are provided after completing an Ethical Hacking Course online and let individuals dive deep into the field. They open a door to multiple opportunities and help get a satisfying job with a lucrative salary.
