If you are keeping track of hiring trends these days, you will find a lot of job openings for professionals skilled in information security. The reason is the growing digital transformation along with the adoption of cloud services. Big data analytics has allowed companies to gather a massive amount of data and analyze it to obtain valuable business insights. The more data a company gathers, the higher is the risk of a data breach. Malicious hackers are trying out innovative ways to intrude into a company’s systems and networks so as to compromise their sensitive data for personal gains.

Companies, irrespective of their size, have realized the need to take proactive steps in securing their business data from any kind of cyberattack. Though there are a variety of information security professionals hired to ensure the overall system security, professionals who can beat malicious hackers in their own game are ethical hackers. Unlike black-hat hackers, ethical hackers gain access to an organization’s system with permission from the concerned authority. They bypass the security and infiltrate networks to identify vulnerabilities and loopholes and rectify them before they can be exploited by malicious hackers.

Ethical hackers are one of the highly paid and sought-after professionals in the field of cybersecurity. If you can add an ethical hacking certification to your resume, there is no reason why you can’t improve your earning potential even further. Willing to know more about such certifications? If yes, then this article is for you. We have listed some of the most popular ethical hacking certifications that are recognized by companies worldwide to hire professionals in this domain.

Let’s check them out!

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Certification by the EC-Council

Whether you are a Network security engineer, Information security manager, Solution architect, Cyberdefense analyst, or Junior penetration tester, the CEH certification will benefit your career. The latest version CEH v11 is dedicated to making you aware of the commercial-grade hacking tools, techniques, and methodologies used by hackers to ethically hack an organization. The certification covers everything that you need to become a seasoned ethical hacker - NICE 2.0 framework’s Specialty areas, emerging attack vectors, modern exploit technologies, hands-on hacking challenges, malware analysis, dedicated modules on Cloud and IoT, and thousands of hacking techniques and tricks.

The associated exam 312-50 (ECC Exam) is 4 hours long in which aspirants have to attempt a total of 125 multiple-choice questions. You need to follow one of the conditions mentioned below to be eligible for appearing in this ECC exam:

● Hold a CEH certification of version 1 to 7.
OR
● Hold a work experience of at least 2 years in the domain of Information Security.
OR
● Attend an official EC-Council training.

GIAC Certified Penetration Tester by SANS Institute

The Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) has designed this certification to demonstrate a candidate’s skills in conducting a penetration test properly using the best practice techniques and methodologies. With this credential, you’ll gain the knowledge of conducting exploits and engaging in detailed reconnaissance and utilizing a process-oriented approach to projects involving penetration tests. Information security professionals like ethical hackers, defenders, auditors, and forensic specialists can take this certification.

The associated exam GPEN is web-based and is required to be proctored. The time allowed is 3 hours and there are around 82 to 115 questions to be answered. The passing score of the exam is 75%.

Important Topics - Attacking password hashes, Azure overview and Attacks, Escalation and exploitation, Kerberos attacks, Penetration test planning, Scanning and host discovery, and Vulnerability scanning.

CompTIA Pen Test+

This certification by CompTIA tests you regarding the most up-to-date penetration testing, and vulnerability assessment and management skills required to identify the resiliency of the network against attacks. The certification is unique because it assesses a candidate’s ability to test devices in new environments like cloud and mobile, apart from existing desktops and servers. Moreover, it includes management skills used to plan, scope, and handle weaknesses, not just exploit them. The certification is also compliant with ISO 17024 standards and approved by the US DoD to meet directive 8140/8570.01-M requirements.

The associated exam PTO-001 consists of a maximum of 85 questions that are performance-based and multiple-choice type. The exam duration is 165 minutes, and you need to score at least 750 marks (on a scale of 100 to 900).

While there are no prerequisites to take the exam, a minimum of 3 to 4 years of information security work experience is recommended.

Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)

The OSCP is a foundational penetration testing certification that is acknowledged, popular, and required for many cybersecurity jobs out there. Professionals who hold this certification are capable of identifying existing vulnerabilities and executing organized attacks in a focused and controlled manner. Further, they know how to leverage or modify existing exploit code to their advantage, perform network pivoting and data exfiltration, and compromise systems due to poor configurations. The certification is ideal for information security professionals who want to take a serious step into the world of professional penetration testing.

The associated exam is a 24-hour hands-on penetration test in which a candidate has to complete a challenge and submit a comprehensive test report.

Candidates applying for this exam should have a clear understanding of TCP/IP networking, Bash scripting with basic Python or Perl, and Windows and Linux administration experience.

To sum it up, ethical hacking certifications can give a boost to your cybersecurity career. Consider taking an online course to prepare for the certifications mentioned above. Their exams aren’t easy to pass on your own, and an online course can help you prepare better. You’ll learn from the industry experts who know the cybersecurity best practices and guide you step-by-step to learn about ethical hacking from scratch. So, why not get ethical hacking certified today and reap its career benefits!

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