We all have interests that might come across as unique and distinct to several people. The same goes for the business of ethical hacking. Although when the word hacking comes in, one goes on wondering if it’s even an actual profession. But to your surprise, it is a profession and a moral one at the same time.
So, how can you start your career in ethical hacking as a profession? Below is a list you can refer to before taking this career up full-time. Let’s dig into the realm of hacking.
The soft skills
When people hear about hacking, what comes in mind is a profession that pertains to numbers and crunching them simultaneously. However, the scenario is different. You have to acquire soft skills only as a work ethic, have an attitude of a problem solver, and be a person who is self-motivated and driven.
Ethical hacking is also about how one can be seamless enough to gel along with people as well as be street smart so that they can easily derive information or just intel before they start hacking.
No illegal pursuits
Ethical hacking is called “White Hat,” and therefore, you must stay in that spectrum only and not involve yourself in any unethical or “Black Hat” practices. The profession in this field includes working with government and related bodies.
Hence, engaging in shady practices will destroy your ethical hacking dream. You will go through many tests like polygraph tests and other security clearances that you need to pass to work with the government organizations. This is why you must avoid any malpractices altogether.
You get to work with the government itself
As an ethical hacker, you have a golden opportunity to work with the government. Apart from a secure and flexible job, you get to study on the job as well. You can work part-time with the government.
While working, you can pursue studying further or any other interest without investing much time in your job, and you will be paid as well for the same.
Although you can work your way through IT as well, if you’re not yet in that league of the IT sector, then you must try out first to enlist in many part-time branches of government bodies requiring ethical hackers.
Apply to become a certified ethical hacker
If you want to work in this field and are determined enough to indulge only in White Hat practices, then you first have to clear the CEH test to become eligible for acquiring cybersecurity jobs in San Francisco.
As discussed before, you need to pass all the clearance tests, along with a few years of security-related experience in the IT sector. The certification has a lot of benefits like:
- You will acquire a mindset of a hacker for security
- You can better understand other skills, like countermeasures, exploits, and vulnerabilities.
As a CEH, you will be qualified in the following fields of hacking:
- Penetration testing, footprinting and reconnaissance, and social engineering.
- You will learn to create Trojan horses, backdoors, viruses, and worms.
- The other verticals you will study are denial of service (DoS) attacks, SQL injection, buffer overflow, session hijacking, and system hacking.
- Apart from hacking, you will also understand how to sniff and scan networks, crack wireless encryption and evade IDSs, firewalls, and honeypots.
You can obtain this certification either offline or online as well by a certified ethical hacker training center. It is a 5-day training course that would help you prepare for the test.
Study material or resources
Here’s how to get your hands on the most compelling resources to proceed with this journey.
- You must choose the right kind of study material to sit through this examination to crack them. If you’re preparing from an online portal, then there will be a section where they would have mentioned sources from where you can refer while studying for your exam.
- You can also refer to online sites like Amazon or Flipkart, you have to type the keyword ethical hacking study material, and several books will appear in your search list to pick from.
- You can run the usual Google search as well to find simple hacks and essential facts that will enhance your skills as an ethical hacker. Google may amaze you with great insights that go a long way in your career.
- Just like any other community, you will find communities of ethical hackers as well to join and learn from your peers and know situations that one faces as an ethical hacker.
These are some of the ways you can start your ethical hacking career. Thorough research before you kickstart is any way preferred. An informed choice will make you weigh the pros and cons better than anyone who would blindly jump into it. After that, the path would come across seamless.
