How To Learn Ethical Hacking: Courses and Training

Mike Alreend
4 min readJan 13, 2022

Ethical hacking involves unearthing vulnerabilities in a system or application that can damage a company’s reputation. Most of the data available is usually prone to a cyber attack. Consequently, ethical hackers mimic the attackers to resolve any problems before hackers can exploit the company or an individual.

Ethical hackers, also known as white hat hackers, ensure that the client’s data is secure. Additionally, they test a system’s defenses through planned and approved methods. Most importantly, all their work is legal.

Professionals are readily hired and handsomely paid for their services. With a basic ethical hacking certification, one can step into this field to make a career. Here are a few things to know before you start ethical hacking training.

Ethical Hackers and their Types

Ethical hackers possess ethical hacking certification training to safeguard information by legally hacking the networks. Generally, ethical hackers are classified into three:

  • White hat hackers
  • Grey hat hackers
  • Black hat hackers

White hat hackers perform legal ethical hacking. Moreover, they are authorized to access the data and warn the clients accordingly. However, they need a license and enrollment in an ethical hacking certification course.

On the contrary, black and grey hat hackers use the same tools but hack illegally. Also, their intent is personal gain and not the safety of a company/individual.

Responsibilities of an Ethical Hacker

A white-hat hacker has to follow specific guidelines, which are as follows:

  1. Ethical hackers must seek authorization from the client before assessing the network.
  2. As a result of signing an NDA, ethical hackers are bound to keep their discoveries confidential.
  3. Ethical hackers should report any issues and breaches to the client.
  4. Above all, ethical hackers should erase their tracks to prevent hackers from accessing the information.

White hat hackers should remember their ethical certification training. This is because any malpractice can get their license revoked.

Ethical Hacking Courses

To become a licensed hacker, you need to complete a few ethical hacking certification courses. You can join a CEH certification school or enroll in an online course. However, it would be helpful if you have a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

  • Certified Ethical Hacking Certification by EC Council

After completing this course, you will obtain a CEH certification which is essential to be a professional in this field. Furthermore, you will learn about thousands of hacking techniques and tools.

EC Council also focuses on malware analysis and modern exploit technologies. Also, you need to clear a 4-hour examination to complete the course.

  • Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing Course by Cybrary

This learning program is best suited for those who wish to be cybersecurity professionals. Besides ethical hacking training, you will learn about PenTest Planning, Session Hijacking, and Reconnaissance.

Additionally, Cybrary focuses on defense mechanisms and advanced cybersecurity frameworks.

The duration of the course is approximately 23 hours.

  • The Complete Ethical Hacker Certification Exam Prep Course by Udemy

This ethical hacking certification course will help you solidify your basics as a hacker. Moreover, you will learn all the topics required to clear the Ethical Hacker Certification Exam.

The core topics taught by Udemy include cryptography, malware protection, internet footprinting, and threat identification. Not only does it feature a web application firewall, but it is also well structured.

The time required to complete the course is about 17 hours.

  • Hacking and Patching Course by Coursera

Coursera is best suited for students who wish to learn the techniques of hacking web apps. It is an online ethical hacking certification training program that also teaches security design programs. Furthermore, you will gain knowledge about Linux systems and hiding Trojan horses.

Learners will solve problems on SQL databases and penetration testing. However, you need to have a fundamental understanding of systems to enroll for this certification.

The course is approximately 17 hours long.

  • Specialization in Hacking for Beginners by Udemy

It is a beginner-level course by Udemy that focuses on ethical hacking training. The course covers a detailed overview of DNS as well as Port Scanning. Additionally, you will also learn about the vulnerabilities of various systems.

Most importantly, you will complete assignments as a part of this specialization. You do not require any knowledge of Linux to sign up for the course.

The duration of this course is 2.5 hours.

Conclusion

Almost all organizations and companies hire ethical hackers to analyze and test the security of their systems. Moreover, corporations are also investing in keeping their data secure.

Accordingly, the demand for cybersecurity professionals and ethical hackers has increased tenfold.

Through ethical hacking training, you can clear the necessary exams and earn a hacking license. All the more, online ethical hacking certification courses are a great place to start your career in cybersecurity.

If you wish to learn more about ethical hacking and cybersecurity, please visit Global Tech Council.

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Mike Alreend

Result-oriented Technology expert with 10 years of experience in education, training programs.Passionate about getting the best ROI for the brand.