THE CAREER PATH TO BECOMING A GREAT PENETRATION TESTER - EC-Council Certifications

Cyber attacks continue to evolve, with cybercriminals creating new sophisticated methods to attain data, making it crucial for enterprises to defend and protect the cyberspace. Enterprises are on the hunt for solutions that can curb the problem using their IT security staff or third-party consultants. Either way, businesses need a Licensed Penetration Tester (Master) who can investigate vulnerabilities with the latest pentesting tools, techniques, and methodologies. The penetration tester assesses, scans, and secures information technology segments based on the threats, risks, and trends that the systems present.

Penetration testers are highly-trained professionals who can employ creative ways beyond the use of automated tools to identify vulnerabilities in a system. The human involvement is essential to stimulate an attack and uncover vulnerabilities. “White hat” hackers need additional training to add penetration testing to their arsenal of skills as ethical hacking is only a part of the pentesting process. They either go through intensive training or learn on the job. But to grow in the industry, you must acquire skills that are often in-demand by employers. This can be done through a series of credentialing programs.

Vulnerability Assessment Vs. Penetration Testing

Often the terms vulnerability testing and penetration testing are used interchangeably, although there is a considerable difference between them.

Vulnerability assessments are the identification and reporting of vulnerabilities that exist in the system, whereas a penetration test is an authorized attack on the system to verify its security. The pen test attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities to understand whether there is any possibility of unauthorized access.

Career Path to becoming a Great Pentester

EC-Council’s VAPT Track has three levels and includes these credentialing and training programs:

Core: Certified Network Defender (C|ND), Certified Ethical Hacker (C|EH), and Certified Ethical Hacker (C|EH) Practical.

Advanced: EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) Practical.

Expert: Licensed Penetration Tester (L|PT) Master exam.

Success Secrets: How you can Pass EC-Council Certification Exams in first attempt