How to Fight the Good Fight: Ethical Hacking Tutorial

What is Hacking?

Hacking refers to exploiting weaknesses in a computer network to obtain unauthorized access to information. A hacker is a person who tries to hack into computer systems. Hacking involves stealing and modifying information. An ethical hacker is a person who works for the organization and protects the organization from the malicious hacker. Ethical hackers use the same skills and mindset as malicious hackers. 

Types of Hackers

There are mainly six types of hackers.

Fig: Types of hacker

1. Black Hat Hacker 

   A highly skilled individual who illegally hacks into a system is known as a Black Hat Hacker. The motive behind such an attack is mostly for monetary gain. These individuals are also known as security crackers.

2. White Hat Hacker 

   A White Hat Hacker, also known as an Ethical Hacker (or a Security Analyst) is an individual who discovers vulnerabilities in a computer network. Such a hacker works to defend organizations and governments.

3. Gray Hat Hacker 

   A Gray Hat Hacker is a blend of both black and white hat hackers. A Gray Hat Hacker works defensively and offensively, depending on the scenario.

4. Script Kiddies 

   An amateur hacker who uses existing hacking tools and available codes to hack. The motive behind it is generally to impress people.

5. State-sponsored Hacker 

   As the name suggests, such a hacker is sponsored by his or her government. Here, the motive is to gain secret information and damage the information systems of other nations.

6. Hacktivist 

   A Hacktivist (think activist) is an individual who propagates a political agenda by hacking. 

What is Ethical Hacking?

Ethical hacking is the process by which system vulnerabilities are discovered to ensure system security. This is achieved with the help of hacking techniques and tools. Let’s see the need for ethical hackers: 

• Ethical hackers prevent malicious hackers from breaching an organization's network
• Ethical hackers look for system vulnerabilities that others may exploit
• Ethical hackers analyze and enhance an organization’s security policies
• They help protect customer data

To become an ethical hacker, there are specific skills that you must possess. These skills will be beneficial for working in a real-time environment.

Become a Certified Ethical Hacker!

CEH v12 - Certified Ethical Hacking CourseExplore Program

Skills of an Ethical Hacker

1. Knowledge of operating environments such as Windows, Linux, Unix, Macintosh
2. Familiarity with programming languages such as HTML, PHP, Python, etc.
3. In-depth understanding of networking
4. Awareness of local security laws and standards
5. Understanding the architecture of the operating system
6. Comprehension of malware analysis and reverse engineering

*Obtaining a global certification related to networking gives you a huge advantage

Ethical Hacking Process

To carry out a structured attack, ethical hacking has various phases. Shown below are the distinct phases of the process. 

1. Reconnaissance 

   The attacker uses various hacking tools (e.g., NMAP, Hping) to obtain information about the target

2. Scanning 

   Using tools such as NMAP and Nexpose, the attacker tries to spot vulnerabilities in the system

3. Gain Access 

   Here, the attacker attempts to exploit the vulnerability using the Metasploit tool

4. Maintain Access 

   Now, the attacker tries to install some backdoors into the victim’s system for future access. Metasploit is used again to achieve this

5. Clear Tracks 

   In this stage, the attacker clears all the pieces of evidence of the attack as no attacker likes to get caught

6. Reporting 

   Finally, the ethical hacker creates a report that consists of the vulnerabilities spotted, the tools used to exploit, and the success rate of the operation

What is CEH v10?

CEH v10 is a certification provided by EC-Council. It is the most popular in the ethical hacking field. Any ethical hacker who completes CEH v10 certification is known as Certified Ethical Hacker. The roles and responsibilities of certified ethical hacker include: 

• Create scripts that test for vulnerabilities
• Develop tools to increase security
• Perform risk assessments
• Set up security policies
• Train staff for network security

CEH v10 Exam Overview

• The CEH v10 exam is provided by EC-Council
• It consists of 125 questions
• The minimum passing score is 60% - 80%.
• The actual passing scores are set by using statistical analysis and are subject to change based on the difficulty of the questions
• The exam fee is $500
• The duration is 4 hours
• All questions are multiple-choice
• The exam is administered in English

The breakdown of topics covered in the exam are as follows: 

Fig: Topics in CEH v10 exam with percentages

What’s New in v10?

1. A new model of IoT (Internet of Things) is added in the module
2. A new type of vulnerability analysis
3. All the modules from v9 are leveled up to v10

Become a Certified Ethical Hacker!

CEH v12 - Certified Ethical Hacking CourseExplore Program

Job Roles After CEH Certification

1. Network Security Analyst 

   Eliminates weaknesses in your infrastructure and finding creative ways to protect your company

2. Homeland Security Specialist 

   Protects local, state, and federal infrastructure during a disaster or terrorist attack

3. Penetration Tester 

   Highly skilled security specialists that spend their days attempting to breach computer and network security systems

4. IT Auditor 

   Oversees internal controls and risks of a company's technology network

5. Security Engineer 

   Implement security measures to monitor and protect data and systems from hackers and cyber attacks

The companies that are hiring for these job roles are: 

Fig: Companies hiring CEH

Salary of a Certified Ethical Hacker

• USA: The average salary of a certified ethical hacker is around $71,331.
• India: The average salary of a certified ethical hacker is around 5.5 lakhs. 

Get an in-depth understanding of the Ethical Hacking skills and the process from the following video -

Conclusion

Today, you will find many certified ethical hackers working for big organizations across most of the industries like IT companies, healthcare, e-commerce, and many more. The malicious hackers are finding new ways to breach the security of networks every day; because of this, the requirement for ethical hackers are increasing day by day. If you want to get started in this field or if you are ready to take your career to the next level, check out Simplilearn’s CEH (v10) - Certified Ethical Hacking Course today. You will learn advanced techniques in network analysis and penetration testing so that you can help fight malicious hackers.