Ethical Hacker

Ethical Hackers conduct penetration testing of an organization's systems and applications by utilizing creative thinking along with prerequisite cybersecurity knowledge.

Sample of Reported Job Titles

Information Security Analyst, Security Analyst, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Security Consultant (Computer / Networking / Information Technology), Information Security Manager, Penetration Tester

Summary

Ethical Hackers conduct penetration testing of an organizations systems and applications, by working to replicate malicious hacking strategies. They are responsible for analyzing the defense protocols and social-engineering aspects of an organization. Ethical hackers are of growing importance in the wake of both domestic and international cyber-terrorism threats, in addition to being pivotal to the prevention of data breaches by malicious actors.

Tasks

Scan open and closed ports using Reconnaissance tools such as Nessus and NMAP
Engage in social engineering methodologies
Examine patch releases by performing vulnerability analysis on them
Test evasion of intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems, honeypots, and firewalls
Conduct penetration testing on servers and systems

Educational Requirements

Most ethical hacking jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, or a related field. Coursework can be substituted for sufficient experience in some cases.

Salary Information 2020

According to payscale.com, the median income for an Ethical Hacker in 2020 was $82,000.

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Information retrieved from Payscale: Average Certified Ethical Hacker Salary, Synopsys: What is an ethical hacker?, EC-Council: What is Ethical Hacking? and Edureka: Ethical Hacking Career,