How to become an Ethical Hacker

This guide is all about how to become an ethical hacker. Then, before we continue we have first to know who are ethical hackers and what they can do. Becoming an ethical hacker may seem easy in theory. But to become a good hacker you have to follow some steps.

Who is a hacker?

The word hacker originally defined a skilled programmer proficient in machine code and computer operating systems. Also, a hacker is a person who breaks into a computer system. The reason for hacking can be many: installing malware, stealing, or destroying data.

Hackers can be also there to find software vulnerabilities in order to fix them.

How does hacking work?

Hackers breach defenses to gain unauthorized access into computers, phones, tablets, IoT devices, networks, or entire computing systems. Hackers also take advantage of weaknesses in network security to gain access. The weaknesses can be technical or social in nature. Let also see some types of hackers.

• Cybercriminals
• Hacktivists
• Ethical hackers
• Script kiddies

Now as you already know who is a hacker let us see also what is ethical hacking.

what is ethical hacking?

Ethical hacking involves the legal use of hacking techniques for benevolent versus malicious purposes. Ethical hackers use penetration testing and other tactics to find software vulnerabilities and other security weaknesses so they can be promptly addressed.

Who is a penetration tester?

Many people think that a Penetration Tester is just a White Hat Hacker but this is wrong… White Hat Hacker is anyone who works or fight to protect the cyber security…

Penetration Testers are essentially Gray Hat Hackers. They are between the two worlds… this makes Penetration Testers be the most Advanced Hackers because they know how to attack and how to protect!

who is an ethical hacker?

The term ethical hacker includes all security professionals that provide offensive services, whether red team, pentester, or freelance offensive consultant. Also, an ethical hacker’s primary purpose is to view security from the adversary’s perspective in an effort to find vulnerabilities that could be exploited by bad actors.

Role of an ethical hacker

Ethical hackers can be independent freelance consultants, employed by a firm that specializes in simulated offensive cybersecurity services, or they can be an in-house employee protecting a company’s website or apps.

Possessing ethical hacker skills and knowledge is helpful for many other security roles

Now can see then how to become an ethical hacker as you already who he is and what he can do.

The skills required to become an ethical hacker

While there are plenty of anecdotal stories of blackhat hackers being converted to be whitehats in a bygone era, the most important requirement for becoming a successful ethical hacker today is to have, as is found in the name, high ethical standards.

Ethics are what separates the good guys from the bad guys. There are plenty of blackhat hackers that have adequate technical skills to be ethical hackers, but they lack the discipline of character to do the right thing regardless of the perceived benefits of doing otherwise.

A candidate for an ethical hacker job must be able to demonstrate advanced cybersecurity technical skills. The ability to recommend mitigation and remediation strategies is a part of the desired experience.

To become an ethical hacker you have to understand the networks.

A hacker should be able to gather information about a network with the intent to secure the network system. He can also use various tools like Telnet, NS lookup, Ping, Tracert, etc.

Also an ethical hacker must know about the networking and how a network work. He must know about fundamentals of network such as: network models, IP address and network protocols etc. Networking skills is very important in ethical hacking field. Almost all devices are connected to the network.

An ethical hacker must be proficient with operating systems, especially Windows and Linux

Linux System hacking

Linux is an operating system that acts as an intermediary as a bridge between the physical device and the instruction code of the program. in our previous article, we discussed the Linux tutorial for beginners.

hacking a Linux-based computer system and get access to a password-protected Linux system, you must know Linux’s basic file structure. Also you can have a look on these top 6 Best operating system linux for hacking and penetration testing.

windows hacking

Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families, all of which are developed and marketed by Microsoft.

An ethical hacker must have strong coding skills.

You may find that many people on the internet say that you don’t need to know how to program to be a hacker, I don’t judge them but programming is more important in hacking. Sure you may perform some attacks without programming skills by using other script, but at a given point it will require you to have skills in programming.

Programming languages that an ethical hacker need to know

• Assembly
• C Lang
• C++
• Go Lang
• python

How to get experience as an ethical hacker

Experience with vulnerability testing tools, such as Metasploit, Netsparker,  and OpenVAS, is very helpful for ethical hackers. These tools and there are many more of them, are designed to save time when searching for known vulnerabilities. These or similar tools may provide a useful framework for vulnerability scanning and management but should represent only the starting point for an experienced ethical hacker. Also, get in hands with kali linux operating system.

What is the Outlook for Ethical Hackers?

Cyberwarfare is extremely common, and many high-profile enterprises have been subject to major hacking issues. In this day and age, spending on IT security on a global scale is reaching the trillion-dollar mark. What better way to combat the threat of black-hat hacking than by making use of an army of white-hat hackers?

The demand for ethical hackers is at an all-time high and rising. Many experienced, ethical hackers can expect to earn in excess of $120,000 per year, especially if they are running their own consultancies or penetration testing companies.