Ethical hacking, an essential skill, is the identification and exploitation of security vulnerabilities for the purpose of improving an organization’s cybersecurity. Moreover, ethical hacking helps organizations improve their security status by uncovering exposures that are beneath the surface and providing support to address them.
Although this term may seem somewhat paradoxical, ethical hackers are actually the ‘good guys’. They are working against our traditional idea of a hacker to discover risks and vulnerabilities in an enterprise’s network. That is to say before they are compromised by someone looking to exploit them. It is important to note that by definition, what makes this type of hacking ethical is that it is done with express permission from the target.
Who is an Ethical Hacker?
Ethical hackers use their knowledge to secure and improve the technology of organizations. For instance, they provide an essential service to these organizations by looking for vulnerabilities that can lead to a security breach. Similarly, an ethical hacker reports the identified vulnerabilities to the organization. Hence, ethical hacking, an essential skill, is much of a need. Additionally, they provide remediation advice. In many cases, with the organization’s consent, the ethical hacker performs a re-test to ensure the vulnerabilities are fully resolved.
And how to be one? Here are certain measures:
- Learn Kali Linux OS.
- Understand Networking Protocols and Algorithms.
- Learn at least one Client and Server-side programming language.
- Scanning and Information Gathering.
- Learn Server-side attacks and Client-side attacks.
- Getting your hands dirty with popular hacking tools like NMAP, Metasploit, John the Ripper, etc.
- Getting recognized certifications and landing as an Ethical Hacker.
The requirement to Become an Ethical Hacker:
How your ethical hacking career begins depends on your current field of work. For instance, if you’re not in an IT field you should definitely try shifting into one. At the same time, most jobs require you to have a Bachelor’s degree in computer science or cybersecurity-related field. However, exceptions are made for people with sound knowledge of operating systems, databases, and networking. Also, it is nigh impossible to directly become an ethical hacker. Most ethical hackers begin their careers as tech support engineers who climb their way up. This is done by earning certifications like CCNA and CISSP before working towards the ultimate CEH certification. After that, earn your CEH certifications, it is time to market yourself as an ethical hacker!
Want to start to learn this amazing skill? Take your first step towards learning the of an Ethical Hacking career by starting with our Best Ethical Hacking course here.
