Ethical Hacking- Why This Could be an IT Career For You!
Passionate About Helping Businesses with Their Cyber Security? Become an Ethical Cyber Hacker!
We’ve all heard about cyber security attacks and hacking in one way or another: by seeing large-scale news stories and social media posts, we learn of the losses of data, breach of privacy and other breaks in security. The targets are typically well-known organizations, with data centers that are somehow compromised. However, what we don’t see is that companies, big and small, in all sectors of our economy are continuously protected from such breaches with the help of Ethical Hackers – an IT role that is increasingly growing in popularity.
As such, it is not simply just “the bad guys who are after our most precious information,” and there is in a large employment market for the good guys who help stop these breaches and those who have recently completed the Certified Ethical Hacking Course (CEH v10), are hired by companies of all sizes and specializations.
So, what does a good “hacker” do, on a day-to-day basis, why types of computer and interpersonal skills does one need to join the “good” fight and how does done get started? Read on!
First off, what is ethical hacking?
The purpose of ethical hacking is to thoroughly review the security of a system or network’s infrastructure. The Ethical Hacker will try to “break” through the system, looking for any weaknesses that can be exploited maliciously.
The Ethical Hacker’s job is to break into a system, he or she does so legally and ethically. And that is the key difference between an Ethical Hacker and a malicious hacker – an Ethical Hacker is legally sanctioned to perform this task, while a malicious hacker is doing so against the law. The EC-Council, a professional organization that certifies individuals in various e-business and information security skills, defines an Ethical Hacker as “an individual who is usually employed with an organization and who can be trusted to undertake an attempt to penetrate networks and/or computer systems using the same methods and techniques as a malicious hacker.”
That’s why this role is super important: because malicious hackers are always on the look-out for the next best way to penetrate the system’s security, the Ethical Hacker must always think from their perspective and continuously look for weaknesses in the system security.
The Ethical Hacker also reviews any system configuration vulnerabilities and looks for flaws in the hardware and software. An Ethical Hacker carefully documents their approaches, reviews all methods and stays up to date current trends in cybersecurity. The goal is to provide input on how the organization/business can improve their security protocols to prevent any potential attacks, minimizing and even eliminating risks to their enterprise by following suggestions from the EH.
Typical Duties and Day-to-Day Skills
Ethical Hackers typically take on various duties, such as testing security protocols. Similarly, some of the main responsibilities involve trying to copy the mechanisms behind a malicious attack and come
up with ways to improve the system’s defenses in order prevent such an attack from occurring. Ethical Hackers must always think outside the box and try to come up with alternate ways t hat malicious hackers could get into the system and compromise the security.
Here are some common approaches that Ethical Hackers might employ while attempting to penetrate a system:
- Review & address all security policies, including any IT asset allocation, and assess any employee breaches of information, including theft and other cyber security compromises.
- Scan ports and seek vulnerabilities and suggest appropriate measures to mitigate them.
- Examine any program and patch installations and make sure that they cannot be exploited.
- Employ social engineering concepts to identify any information that can be used to generate an attack.
- Attempt to evade any threat detection systems (ex: IPS (Intrusion Prevention systems)), honeypots, and firewalls; and much more.
Certified Ethical Hackers help put organizations’ security protocols to the test and see how they react and how well they handle any potential attacks/recoveries. Detecting how well the organization reacts to these and other tactics helps assess policies around security and infrastructure. An Ethical Hacker attempts the same types of attacks as a malicious hacker would try—and then helps organizations strengthen their defenses. In fact, Many IT companies have made the CEH certification a compulsory qualification for security-related posts making it a go-to certification for security professionals.
TechnoEdge Course – CEH v10
TechnoEdge offers a professional certification course for Ethical Hackers: the Certified Ethical Hacker course (CEH v10). This short course is immersive and ensures the participants are comfortable and knowledgeable about all aspects of ethical hacking. This includes learning about scanning networks, vulnerability analyses, system hacking, malware threats, sniffing, social engineering and much more.
This Certification course is built to equip the students with real-life situations and to think on their feet when it comes to all aspects of cybersecurity. CEH v10 Course helps inform students of the finer nuances of Trojans, Backdoors, and Countermeasures, and teaches them a better understanding of IDS, firewalls, honeypots, and wireless hacking, among other, more advanced focuses.
IT professionals who have taken a Certified Ethical Hacker v10 Course are able to stop intrusions before they happen because they learn to think like a hacker and to use hacking skills for the protection of an organization. The CEH v10 Course has been created with input from hundreds of organizations and researchers who have spent thousands of hours establishing the latest methods used by nefarious intruders looking to make money and wreak havoc.
This prep course is accredited by the EC-Council and candidates who take CEH v10 through TechnoEdge can skip the application process the EC-Council normally requires.
A combination of hands-on lab-style practice and lecture of this prep course ensures that students have both the information and practical experience to address needs like penetration testing, ethical
hacking and threat detection. This is a respected and well-known certification within the global IT community and is a baseline hiring standard of many Fortune 500 companies, governments, education institutions and other organizations around the world.
Other Skills & Attributes
Many IT professionals already possess the fundamentals required to be successful in this career path, such as their continuous desire to learn, exhibit strong analytical though processes and stay current. As such, many find that transitioning into this specialized area is a logical one for those who enjoy a challenge. If you’re thinking of completing CEH v10 and venturing into the world of Ethical Hacking, there are a couple of other skills you may wish to ensure you have before your journey:
- First and most importantly, you must be passionate about the IT industry. This role is also a great fit for anyone with a strong knack for challenging problem solving, ability to think outside the box, and keen attention to detail.
- Similarly, you must be adaptable and entrepreneurial – creativity is a must in a profession that seeks to prevent hacking attacks before they even happen and strives to be ahead of tech trends.
- The desire to help others is another vital quality that helps Certified Ethical Hackers succeed in this field. Many find it highly rewarding to contribute to creating safe online environments, improving online information exchange, and ensuring that all transactions can be completed in a secure fashion.
Combined with a thorough knowledge of networking and programming, these are some of the qualities that will help a professional succeed in the Ethical Hacking field.
What Industries are looking?
The great news about this career path is that there is an opportunity to employ a Certified Ethical Hacker in virtually any sector – wherever technology is used and there is a potential for a breach, there is ample space for cybersecurity improvements and hence ample space for Ethical Hackers.
For instance, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards now require companies to conduct annual penetration tests, especially with companies that have made any major changes in their applications or infrastructure. Larger companies often have a full team of CEHs in-house or reach out to IT firms who have contractors available to conduct numerous cybersecurity tests.
Bottom Line
Along with providing an environment that is never stale or boring, the best thing about this type of work is that it is definitely a profession that is here to stay. There are still some people who may argue that “good” or “white hat” hackers are simply “bad guys gone good”, but the fact of the matter is that this profession can already be seen as a staple security measure for many companies.
As technology and cybersecurity continue for to evolve, the need for talented Ethical Hackers and their creativity will evolve accordingly, as the bad guys will always be there, trying to find cracks, backdoors, and other secret ways to access data they should not have access to.