Our Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking course will introduce you to a variety of attack types, including password cracking, DDoS, SQL injection, session hijacking, social engineering, and other hacking techniques. The course also covers an introduction to ethical hacking concepts, as well as web server and web application hacking. There are optional labs for this ethical hacking course that help students gain the hands-on hacking skills necessary to be successful on the job.

Why Take an Ethical Hacking Course?

If you are considering working in the cybersecurity industry, then ethical hacking courses will benefit you greatly as you prepare for an offensive security role. With Cybrary's online ethical hacking course, you will learn how to protect your network from malicious hackers by learning to exploit networks yourself.

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As the internet continues to advance, cybercrimes do as well. Criminals no longer need to leave their homes to commit crimes, for they can easily perform malicious attacks and steal data with a few clicks of a mouse and an internet connection. While current technology has given us access to huge amounts of information and simplified tasks like shopping, paying bills, and banking services, it has also given rise to the need for ethical hackers to battle cyber criminals.

There is no better time than now to begin a career in the information security industry.

Ethical hackers are able to help private businesses, public organizations, and government agencies by infiltrating their secure systems to identify flaws and weaknesses. They determine which system areas are hardened and which need additional security to help prevent threats to vulnerable networks, like malware attacks.

In this Ethical Hacking course, you will master these objectives:

Upon completion of this ethical hacking online training course, you will have all the tools required for the development and application of an effective vulnerability identification strategy to prevent attackers from entering key systems.

What is Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing?

You may wonder, is "ethical hacking legal?" The answer is yes, and it helps organizations and law enforcement protect data and catch malicious attackers.

Ethical hacking involves the networking expert methodically attempting to penetrate a network, computer system, or web application as a service to the owner of the system to find security vulnerabilities that a malevolent hacker may be able to exploit.

While ethical hackers often use the same techniques and hacking tools to test and penetrate systems as their criminal counterparts, they do so to document vulnerabilities and provide system owners with advice on how to fix them, rather than taking advantage of the weaknesses. An ethical hacker is often called a "white hat" hacker because they learn ethical hacking to help rather than attack organizations.

Education in ethical hacking allows "white hat" hackers to evaluate the security of a system or network's infrastructure. It involves identifying and attempting to exploit any weaknesses to conclude if the potential for unauthorized access or other malicious or criminal activities exists. Weaknesses are often found in improper or poor system configuration, unknown and known computing or hardware flaws, and operational process weaknesses or technical countermeasures.

By taking the best ethical hacking courses, security professionals in the industry are able to identify and overcome these vulnerabilities and provide system owners with solutions, security, and peace of mind.

What Jobs Are Available for Ethical Hackers?

The cybersecurity job market is thriving, and it isn't expected to slow down anytime soon. Expectations predict growth from $75 billion in 2015 to a whopping $170 billion by the year 2020. Obtaining work in this industry can mean a great income, job security, and advancement potential.

There are many business opportunities, including variations and specializations, available for professional ethical hackers in today's workforce.

Some common titles for professional hacking experts include security consultant, ethical hacker, penetration tester, information security analyst, cyber security analyst, security engineer, security analysis, data security engineer, information security manager, digital forensics analyst, site administrator, and network security specialist.

In addition to careers in the corporate sector, there is ample opportunity for lucrative information security positions in top government agencies as well. The National Security Agency (NSA), Department of Defense (DoD), and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) are all federal agencies that use ethical hacking to maintain privacy and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive government information.

How Do I Become A Certified Ethical Hacker?

Once you complete this Ethical Hacking course (and any other applicable ethical hacking training courses), you may consider moving ahead and obtaining a certified ethical hacking certification that validates your knowledge and skills.

The first step toward ethical hacking certification may be some advanced study on penetration testing and ethical hacking strategies, depending on your experience, skills level, and overall knowledge. You can obtain resources to help you prepare for certification. When you are ready, you may opt to take the exam for the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification by the EC-Council, which is the most sought-after and recognizable certification available in this field.

Alternatively, you could pursue your OSCP, OSWE, OSED, or eCPPT certifications as well.

Do I Have to Have Certifications to Get An Ethical Hacking Job?

While not all ethical hacking and penetration testing positions require that you have certifications, it is a valuable credential to present to new or potential employers, as it shows that you have a fundamental knowledge of how to protect their systems using ethical hacking and penetration testing as the cornerstone of your methodology.

The CEH certification involves an exam with 125 questions that you have four hours to complete, and terms require that you have a passing score of at least 70% to receive your certificate. You can contact the EC-Council for more information.

To best prepare for the CEH certification exam, check out our [free CEH study guide](https://www.cybrary.it/study-guides/ethical-hacking/), [practice exam](https://www.cybrary.it/catalog/transcender_tests/eccert-certified-ethical-hacker-ceh/) as an assessment of your education, and [virtual lab](https://www.cybrary.it/catalog/practice_labs/ethical-hacker/) (to get real-world, hands-on experience). You can also prepare for your [OSCP certification](https://www.cybrary.it/course/offensive-penetration-testing/) with Cybrary.

If you enjoy this course, be sure to view the [Computer Forensics course](https://www.cybrary.it/course/computer-hacking-forensics-analyst/) or the [Advanced Pentesting training](https://www.cybrary.it/course/advanced-penetration-testing/) next!