Ethical Hacking was seen as an oxymoron, people would still question “how could a hacker be ethical?” When EC-Council started the Certified Ethical Hacker, it seemed as though everyone ignored the first two words; “Certified Ethical” and simply focused on the third; “Hacker.” The label “Hacker” carried with it a stigma, in the minds of business professionals, “Hacker” denoted a bad character, someone out to damage things, break into a system and steal sensitive information or someone trolling the dark web doing ominous things. Many organisations steered clear of endorsing any form of Hacking or testing on their networks out of fear.
At the outset, EC-Council created a framework for Ethical Hacking, ultimately the 5 Phases of Ethical hacking showing a repeatable, measurable methodology for identifying vulnerabilities and the corresponding exploits available. By establishing a methodology and standard definitions, the C|EH has defined an entire profession. More than a quarter of a million cyber security professionals in 145 countries have been trained to be Certified Ethical Hackers and a simple search for the credential on LinkedIn will reveal more than 70,000 working professionals that hold the certification across varying levels in many of the world’s leading companies and government entities.
1. Job Recognition
Many Job seekers, especially in Cyber Security find it tough to differentiate themselves, prove their value, and make progressive career moves. The nature of the job places our professionals in confidential environments, accessing sensitive data, unearthing the weaknesses in the organizations they work for. A quick search on LinkedIn shows 4,276 current jobs in the United States alone that require C|EH as a decisive selection criterion.
2. Salary
Getting paid six figures to hack seems like a dream for many, but to many more it is a reality. C|EH has made a list for ten years now of top paid IT certifications to hold. According to Payscale.com, the current average starting salary for someone holding the C|EH credential is $90,000 per year. Current salary trends are fluid, mainly influenced by supply and demand, but there is a significant shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals and a plethora of companies willing to hire top talent in this area.
3. Mapping to Industry Frameworks
Furthering the development of Ethical Hacking as a profession, the Department of Homeland Security( DHS) in cooperation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), as well as Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in cooperation with private industry published the NICE framework – National Initiative for Cyber Security Education. Commonly referred to as the NICE/NIST framework. Executive leadership from EC-Council participated in many of the formative meetings and working groups that led to the publication of this framework and it is commonly used in our development cycles. The C|EH Course curriculum maps 100% to the «Protect and Defend» Domain ensuring relevancy for any organization following the job role categorisation of NIST Special Publication 800-181.
4. Extensive Program + Materials
With the advent of the subscription economy, there are many “online programs” that offer counterfeit programs passing themselves off as complete training programs. We have extensively studied various learning styles and applied the most effective content design formats to our courseware helping us explain complex topics in cyber security through the use of diagrams, charts, reference sections and explanations. Accompanied with our Official Training program run across the globe by Certified EC-Council Instructors, our programs are curated for maximum learning efficacy and complete content coverage mapping back to the standards mentioned above. This approach ensures what you learn in our course, you can use on the job as soon as you leave the classroom.
5. Ease of Access
At EC-Council, we don’t take the testing process, or our ANSI accreditation lightly. We strike a balance between availability and integrity by offering a custom exam platform where our exams can be delivered anywhere in the world provided you meet the minimum criteria required for us to ensure your identity and the integrity of the exam while you take it through our global proctoring network. EC-Council has also been a VUE partner for over 15 years delivering our exams in accredited VUE Delivery centers for those who cannot take online proctored exams.
6. Hands-On Training via iLabs
Via iLabs, we spin up a completely private virtual cloud of machines for every student. Students are able to perform the attack, create users, escalate privilege and eventually hack into the server through the web front end. Having ready access to vulnerable targets helps students identify what they are looking for, how it may behave, and the ability to repair the code, eliminate the vulnerability and ultimately remediate the risk. This is all available 24/7 through a completely automated Cyber Range tool – iLabs. No need to wait for the lab to open, schedule time, or wait for setup, our tools work through a simple web connection in the browser.
We offer more than 140 exercises and labs in C|EH alone to help students master the skills acquired in the C|EH course.
7. Strong Global Community
With over 70,000 professionals on LinkedIn with our credential and a quarter million that have gone through the program, C|EH is a well-known credential. Becoming active in the information security community, holding recognized credentials has the potential of opening up a world of opportunities to you.
8. Performance Based Assessment – C|EH Master.
Upon completion of the C|EH program, participants may advance to the C|EH master which is one of its newest additions to the C|EH program. With rising demand for performance-based training and certification, EC-Council introduced the C|EH master in 2019. In order to achieve master status, you must pass the C|EH exam and the C|EH Practical Assessment. Successfully passing both will award you the C|EH Master designation.
In order to achieve master status, you must pass the C|EH exam and the C|EH Practical Assessment. Successfully passing both will award you the C|EH Master designation. The C|EH Practical Assessment is a 6-hour exam conducted 100% on EC-Council’s own Cyber Range. While challenging the practical, you will have 10 primary activities to perform across 20 scenarios.
C|EH Master credential holders have proven both knowledge through their C|EH Exam as well as sufficient Skills and abilities after passing a rigorous practical assessment in the domains of C|EH.
