How to become an Ethical Hacker

In this article, you will learn how to become an ethical hacker. Becoming an ethical hacker seems a bit ambiguous, especially as the title is usually reserved for those who are committing the digital equivalent of breaking and entering. However, if you are keen to establish a career in IT security and software development, having a knowledge of how a hacker would go about attacking or intruding on a business's website can be extremely valuable.

Distance Learning Centre supplies a number of relevant courses related to IT management, but the ethical hacker course is the only one to concentrate on advanced security techniques that are crucial to protecting an online business or website from attack. Below we have outlined what themes and topics the course covers, along with the ways in which this course will help advance your career in IT security.

HACKING TERMINOLOGY

One of the first things you will learn as an ethical hacker is the terminology that is frequently used to describe certain types of attack, orchestrated by someone wanting to take down or breach security measures protecting a company website.

They include terms such as Social Engineering, DDoS Attacks, Buffer Overflows and Phishing Attacks; phrases that would certainly be alien to a lot of people outside of IT security.

DIFFERENT FORMS OF ATTACK

In order to effectively work in IT security, you should have a knowledge of different forms of attack that a company's website might succumb to, so that it can be appropriately protected. Students will learn about Trojans & Backdoors, Viruses & Worms, Sniffers and a Dedicated Denial of Service Attack, to name a few.

Understanding how these different attacks are created and implemented will help any IT professional to formulate security measures that will keep websites protected.

UNDERSTANDING SECURITY SYSTEMS

Part of the ethical hacker course will cover standard security measures that are employed on websites, including Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Firewalls and Honeypots. Since it is from the perspective of the hacker, lessons will be taught on how to breach or circumvent these security measures, which will in turn give the student an idea of how to protect against them as an IT security professional.

After completing the 20 lessons as part of the ethical hacker course, a student will be required to take an exam that includes 125 multiple choice questions. The examination must be taken at an appropriate testing centre and paid for separately to the initial course fees. For more information, check out the ethical hacker course.

To browse more courses, feel free to head over to our distance learning course listings, or get in touch with Distance Learning Centre for more advice on which course you should choose to study from home.