Ethical Hacking Career Options: Prerequisites, Skills, and Opportunities
Ethical hacking is, in essence, the act of compromising computers and networks in order to assess security levels and operate in good faith.
Ethical hackers are in charge of thoroughly examining whole networks and creating vulnerability reports that detail the many vulnerabilities found and what has to be done to address them.
This is a motivating professional path that does not necessitate a lot of effort. You only need a few prerequisites and talents to get started, and then you're ready to go!
Let's go over all of the criteria and abilities needed for a career in ethical hacking, as well as the prospects that await you, in this article.
Prerequisites for an Ethical Hacking Career
Being a good ethical hacker necessitates being multi-skilled. Understanding the prerequisites can be one of the most difficult things for a newbie.
Let us assist you by properly categorising the many requirements for a successful career in ethical hacking. Some prerequisites are as follows:
- Understanding of important networking concepts: This includes:
- TCP/IP, OSI, and other crucial models.
- Three-way handshakes.
- Working of Ports and IP.
- Public-private addresses.
- Working of DHCP and ARP.
- Concept of subnetting.
- Programming knowledge: While knowledge of a certain programming language will be advantageous, it is not a strict need.
- Knowing the various programming constructions and being able to build pseudocodes and algorithms, on the other hand, will be beneficial!
- Misc. prerequisites: Some other good-to-know things for a successful career in Ethical Hacking include:
- Familiarity with working Linux and essential Linux commands.
- Putty or SSH.
- Working with servers and clients in a networking model.
- Working with different protocols.
Important Skills for a Career in Ethical Hacking
Now that we've established the qualifications, we'll look at the various abilities that will be required throughout your career as an Ethical Hacker, regardless of your employment description or the firm for which you work.
These abilities will be useful in any Ethical Hacking vocation on a day-to-day basis.
- Computer Networking Skills: Computer networking abilities are without a doubt the most critical for any ethical hacker.
- Computer networks can be simply defined as the connectivity of various devices and systems. These devices, frequently referred to as Hosts, are connected via a variety of various channels to receive and transmit data.
- Understanding the full computer networking process provides a comprehensive view of how the system runs and identifies any weaknesses that must be addressed.
- Additionally, this is beneficial for identifying prospective security threats and designing response strategies.
- Linux Skills: Linux is an open-source operating system community built around the Linux Kernel. Linux is a free operating system that is maintained by a large community of developers and engineers.
- Under the GNU licence, anyone may modify and update the Linux source code and use it in any way they like. Linux is critical for any Ethical Hacker since it is the safest operating system available.
- Among all operating systems, Linux is the least susceptible to viruses, malware, and the majority of threats, making it suitable for Ethical Hackers.
- Understanding of Programming: The act of writing code for a computational device to enable it perform distinct instructions is referred to as "programming" in the context of computers.
- Under the umbrella of computer science, programming is broad and can be utilized for a variety of objectives.
- As a result, ethical hackers must be proficient in programming. They do not need to be experienced programmers; simply understanding how programs work and being able to develop basic programs if necessary is sufficient.
- Nonetheless, the Python programming language is widely employed in several aspects of cyber security.
- Python is a very versatile and easy-to-learn programming language, so choose Python as your first programming language.
- Aside from that, Ethical Hackers should be familiar with the following programming languages:
- C
- JavaScript
- PHP
- SQL
- Ruby
- Perl
- Computer Hardware Skills: This necessitates an understanding of how the computer's many physical components are connected and interact.
- This comprises all of a computer's essential components. This is vital for ethical hackers because let's say they want to hack a computer-controlled machine.
- They would need to know how to bypass the hardware in such a case before they could access to the system's internals. For a career in ethical hacking, basic hardware abilities are required.
- Reverse Engineering: In its most basic form, reverse engineering is the process of recovering a product's design, specifications, and operations by analysing its source code.
- It is critical to create a program database and generate useful data. The goal of reverse engineering is to improve the understandability of any system in order to speed up maintenance.
- Reverse engineering is also commonly employed to ensure that various computers and systems are free of security flaws.
- As a result, it assists in making systems much more resilient and protecting them from hackers or dangerous individuals.
- Cryptography skills: The official study of techniques and strategies for reliable communication in the presence of third parties is known as cryptography.
- Cryptography is largely concerned with the creation and maintenance of procedures that prevent third-party attackers from hacking into the system and obtaining sensitive data. A normal text is turned into ciphertext using cryptography to make it impenetrable and incomprehensible to third-party hackers.
- Ethical hackers must ensure that communication between diverse parties inside a company is secure, which necessitates strong cryptography abilities.
- Knowledge of application security: Protecting the software application code and data against cyber-attacks and dangers is what application security is all about.
- All phases of development, including design, development, and deployment, require this step. Application security is a deep-dive procedure that is carried out to gain a comprehensive understanding of the numerous vulnerabilities that expose the application or network to exploitation.
- The information required to strengthen the application against intruders is uncovered by application security.
Opportunities for a Career in Ethical Hacking
Ethical hacking as a profession is increasing at a quicker rate than many other IT fields. Naturally, Cybersecurity and Ethical Hacking have been a fast-growing field over the past decade.
Things will remain the same for the next decade and beyond, as more businesses migrate to the digital realm, necessitating the hiring of more cybersecurity experts.
It is a good idea to go through a certification or a course if you want to establish a successful career in ethical hacking.
You'll learn all the ins and outs of the profession from the pros, and you'll be able to jumpstart your career.
Certified Ethical Hackers earn an average of $85,074 a year, according to Payscale. The typical beginning income is roughly $90,000.
As you get more experience, earn more degrees, and advance in this sector, these numbers will only rise and improve.
After attaining the CEHv10 certification, an Ethical Hacker can try for the following job opportunities and roles, depending on their interests and skills:
- Security analyst
- Information security analyst
- Ethical hacker
- Certified ethical hacker
- Security consultant
- Penetration tester, etc.
Overall, the potential for talented and passionate Ethical Hackers are limitless.
They can work in any firm that has anything to do with the internet and earn a lot of money. Government agencies, educational institutions, and commercial businesses are all included.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity is an ever-expanding field that attracts participants from various fields. All you need is a basic level of curiosity about learning something new and the prerequisites.
1. Is Ethical Hacking a purely technical field?
Yes. Ethical Hacking requires you to work with systems, devices, and programs day in and day out. It is surely a technical field!
2. Can freshers start their journey in Ethical Hacking?
Fresh students can begin their training to become ethical hackers by seeking certificates, classes, or internships. Before taking the professional initial steps, it's also a good idea to brush up on your fundamental skills.
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