How To Build A Rewarding Career In Ethical Hacking?

Hacking is a collection of activities involving various methods, techniques, and tools directed to gain unauthorized access to digital devices, networks, servers, and technologies. It's used for breaching security infrastructure, stealing data, compromising security features of an organization, demanding a ransom to return data accessibility, etc. Those who perform these activities in a way that harms the company operations or leaks data for personal or economic reasons will be termed Cybercriminals. 

There are three types of hackers: 

• White Hat Hacker
• Black Hat Hacker
• Grey Hat Hacker

Cybercriminals who use all illegal activities, methods, techniques to gain unauthorized access to organizational data and harm the security infrastructure are termed, Black Hat Hackers. A White Hat Hacker uses all the hacking knowledge and expertise to protect organizational data and user privacy. They are more commonly referred to as Ethical Hackers. Grey Hat Hacker falls in between a White and a Black Hat Hacker. They don't hesitate to break the rules to achieve their set goals, although most don't possess the intention of a Black Hat Hacker. If you wish to become an Ethical Hacker, check out this CEH Certification Training. 

Here in this blog, we will discuss how you can become an Ethical Hacker and other associated aspects of it. 

How to become proficient in Ethical Hacking? 

Starting with the basics, here in this section, we will discuss the important points to become an Ethical Hacker. 

Master the fundamentals 

Having an IT background will help in amplifying your profile and getting started in the field of Ethical Hacking. Possessing a Computer Science or a diploma degree in networking systems will help you in getting a good head start in comprehending the fundamentals of the subject. 

Once you possess enough experience, you can then move on to the second step of the journey, that's acquiring certifications. 

Get Certified

Before explaining the reason to get certified in the field of Ethical Hacking, let me discuss the advantages of acquiring one: 

• Only a few will be certified in a large pool of aspirants for a role. So, acquiring a certification from a respected organization will help you in being ahead of your competition and getting hired. 
• The second best reason is that being certified helps you in advancing your career path with a much better salary. 

At the start of your journey, it's essential to focus on the right aspects of the career path. So invest your time in building your fundamental skills and acquiring entry-level certifications like Systems Security Certified Programmer (SSCP). Acquiring this cert will help you validate your skills in monitoring, administering, and implementing IT infrastructure using the latest security protocols, practices, and procedures. 

Next in line is Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Acquiring this more advanced cert will validate your expertise in effectively designing, executing, and administering a Cybersecurity program. But to be able to attempt the exam, you must require at least five years of paid work experience in multiple domains. 

Once you acquire this cert, you will be able to advance yourself into senior roles in the Cybersecurity domain like Chief Information Officer, Director of Security, Chief Information Security Officer, etc., within top organizations or leading companies. 

Become a Certified Ethical Hacker or a professional hacker

Once you acquire an entry-level certification like SSCP, you can take up the CEH exam. CEH or Certified Ethical Hacker certification is a certification offered by EC Council. It is a cert containing 125 multiple choice questions that must be completed within four hours. Acquiring this cert will help in validating your expertise in working with advanced hacking tools and techniques. It helps in quickly identifying the security vulnerabilities. 

Employment opportunities in the Ethical Hacking career path

Now that we have discussed the ways to master Ethical Hacking concepts, acquire certs, and advance your career within the Cybersecurity domain. We will now discuss the ground picture of employment opportunities within the Cybersecurity domain. 

IBM has predicted that India needs more than 3 million Cyber Security professionals in the coming years to meet its demand against a stark supply of 100,000 currently. And according to a recent industry survey, India's Cyber Security market will grow at 19% CAGR during the period 2018-2023. 

With the increase in usage of digital services and products, governments are offering incentives and making it easy to do business in the tech industry. All these scenarios are conducive to accelerating the pace of more and more digital adoption around the globe. The job outlook for Ethical Hackers looks promising in the future, and speaking in terms of job prospects, the need for Ethical Hackers is growing manifold times. 

Salary or Payroll for Cyber Security professionals

Now that you know everything that you must strike off on your list to become a qualified Ethical Hacker or Cyber Security professional. It's time we discuss the salary part. 

• Information Security Analyst will earn INR 586,055 in India and USD 103,590 in the USA. 
• Certified Ethical Hacker in India will earn INR 513,333, and in the USA, will earn USD 100,568. 
• Security Consultant will earn an average salary of INR 7,07,790 and USD 84,897 in the USA. 
• Information Security Manager will earn an average salary of INR 15,93,609 in India and USD 126,991 in the USA. 

All the salary figures data have been sourced from PayScale.com and ZipRecruiter.com.