Tips for Creating a Successful Ethical Hacking Career

     A career in ethical hacking is more rewarding than you think. Be it the attractive salary prospects or the high assurance of job security, ethical hacking has rightly claimed its place in the Information Security industry as the most desired career path for students and professionals alike. While many students, career switchers, graduates and professionals, like you, might have set their aim as ‘becoming an ethical hacker’, very few enjoy access to correct and useful guidance on achieving this aim. In this article, you will get to know what it is that you need to create a successful career in the gold mine that is ethical hacking.

Tips for Creating a Successful Ethical Hacking Career

Tip #1: Possess Technical Knowledge

     Programming is an integral part of ethical hacking considering that you will be working on machines, finding bugs in codes most of your time. Having a good working knowledge of various coding languages like Python, C++, Java, etc. will only come in handy in your ethical hacking career. Not only that, having knowledge of different attack vectors, operating systems, and web applications is also critical to being a good ethical hacker.

Tip #2: Get Yourself Certified

     There is no denying the fact that a certificate is a solid testament to your skills. To start your career as an ethical hacker, you need to get yourself certified in an ethical hacking certificate program that will teach you all the fundamentals and advanced techniques of ethical hacking. CEH or Certified Ethical Hacker is an excellent course by EC-Council that stands as the number one choice among students all over the world. This course is valued by every employer all over the world and will teach you everything you need to know about this domain, like reconnaissance, scanning, enumeration, vulnerability analysis, exploitation and much more. You will also learn how to fix security discrepancies in systems and actively help the world become a cyber secure place.

Tip #3: Practice Self-learning

     Self-learning is as important as learning at an institute. Regular practice and self-learning can open those tough doors for you that even good ethical hacking training is sometimes unable to. Ethical hacking, and cybersecurity in general, is a non-linear and highly dynamic field, which means, that if you wish to sustain yourself as a credible ethical hacker, you will have to constantly and regularly update yourself with the upcoming and changing technologies, methodologies and techniques. There is no substitute to self-learning, remember that. A good way to stay abreast of the ethical hacking field is to regularly follow news, blogs, podcasts, forums, social media accounts and even youtube channels that provide the latest information regarding ethical hacking.

Tip #4: Know Your Why

     Last but definitely not least, you must know why exactly you want to become an ethical hacker. Is it for some recognition points among your friends, or for some short term excitement of breaking the rules? Your reason behind pursuing anything decides how long you will sustain in that pursuit. Having a strong why like making the world a safer and better place will not only keep your fire from fizzling out but will also give you the necessary fuel you need in the testing times of your career.

     To sum up, remember that you should know why you are pursuing ethical hacking in the first place and once you think the reason is strong enough, you can start mapping out your path to becoming an elite ethical hacker by following the above-mentioned tips. However, this is not everything there is to ethical hacking. You should also be familiar with the scope, different types, demands and necessary prerequisites to ethical hacking before you dive into this gold mine.