A Revolutionary Way to Learn Ethical Hacking. How to get CEH Certification?

Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing technical domains of the 21st century. As more and more organizations become online, it has become essential to ensure that their financial and other online data and infrastructure is secure. Thus there is an unprecedented demand for qualified cybersecurity professionals around the world today. But many people are unaware of legitimate methods to set foot into the cybersecurity profession. The best pathway for someone who is aiming to start a career in Ethical Hacking is through the Certified Ethical Hacker Certification or CEH Certification. Earlier only highly experienced software professionals could become cybersecurity practitioners. However, the acute shortage of cybersecurity professionals in the world has led to a new cybersecurity revolution. Now, even absolute beginners have an opportunity to become certified ethical hackers by taking up training from a trainer accredited by the ECCouncil, such as Simplilearn. 

Your pathway to earning an EC-Council CEH Certification.

Below we have outlined a career path that you could adopt to become an Ethical Hacker in the shortest possible time.

1. Choosing your EC-Council CEH Exam Preparation path

Before starting preparation for the ECCouncil CEH exam, you should first learn about the eligibility criteria for the exam. If you have two years of demonstrable experience in the network security domain, you are directly eligible to attend the certification exam. However, if you are a newbie to network security, then you will have to attend certification training from an accredited training institute of the EC-Council. You need to possess a CEH certification that is version 1 to 7 or higher. In this case, you have to submit proof of employment and receive the approval to sit for your CEH exam eligibility application.

However, even people who met the required eligibility criteria frequently attend CEH bootcamps in Chicago to feel confident enough to attend the exam. If this is the case, simply enroll in an official class which will include your CEH exam application fee.

If you feel confident that self-study is the best option for you, then you could directly apply for the certification exam.

2. Preparation for the CEH Certification Exam

Regardless of how confident or how experienced someone is in the network security domains, they will still need to prepare properly for the exam. The CEH exam preparation process will look different for everyone. However, a few key steps that everyone needs to go through are:

1. Download and go through the EC-Council CEH Exam Blueprint.
2. Study for the exam in any way that is comfortable for you (instructor-led classes, self-paced courses, or self-taught material). Focus on topics that are difficult or unfamiliar to you.
3. Practice by taking a number of mock tests from various offline or online sources. At least some of them must be timed CEH practice exams so that you get a feel of the actual testing environment.

3. Registration for The CEH Certification Exam

After sufficient preparation and practice, when you feel confident enough to take the EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker exam, you can register yourself and choose an exam date. EC-Council’s site lets you register at least 3 days before your preferred exam date. There are two options for taking the CEH exam:

1. Register to attend the exam at a physical testing center via Pearson VUE OR
2. Register for the exam remotely via the ProctorU tool.

No matter what method you choose, you will be taking the exam under the scrutiny of an exam proctor, either in-person or virtually. However, keep in mind that if you choose remote proctoring, you must also pass an equipment test before sitting for the exam.

4. Pass Your CEH Exam!

The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) exam, administered by the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council), which is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), consists of 125 multiple-choice questions that must be completed in four hours. The minimum passing score is over 70%.

The CEH exam evaluates a candidate’s proficiency in 19 different domains, including Introduction to Ethical Hacking, System Hacking, Scanning Networks, Social Engineering, Session Hijacking, Viruses, and Worms, Hacking Web Applications, Hacking Wireless Networks, Penetration Testing, Buffer Overflow, Footprinting and Reconnaissance, Trojans and Backdoors, Enumeration, Sniffers, SQL Injection, Denial of Service, Cryptography, Hacking Webservers and Evading IDS, Firewalls, and Honeypots.

The CEH certification exam is divided into seven sections, namely background (5 questions), security (31 questions, assessment/ analysis (16 questions), tools/programs/systems (40 questions), policy/regulation (5 questions), procedures/methodologies (25 questions), and ethics (3 questions). The tools/programs/systems section has the highest weightage in the exam – 32%, the security section has a weightage of 25%, the methodology/procedure section has a weightage of 20%, the assessment/analysis section has a weightage of 13%, policy/regulation and background section has a weightage of 4% each, and finally, ethics section has a weightage of 2%.

5. Maintain Your CEH Certification

Once you have passed the CEH certification exam and received your certification, you must renew it on an annual basis, failing which, you will need to sit for the exam again. The steps to renew your CEH Certification are as follows:

1. Create a personal account with EC-Council
2. Go to EC-Council Continuing Education Page
3. Pay your annual fee if required.
4. Submit your credits through the site

Benefits of taking CEH Certification Training

There are numerous benefits to taking a CEH Certification exam; some of them are listed below:

• You will start to think like a hacker. This will help you to anticipate the ways in which they might attack your organization or personal data.
• You will learn more about the threats, security risks, and other forms of vulnerabilities in the field.
• There are a variety of career options in the field of cyber security, such as ethical hackers, penetration testers, and network security professionals. You can easily switch careers between them.
• You will have global recognition if you are a certified network security professional.
• High remunerations are given to professionals in the network security domain. They are among the highest-paid software professionals.

Now that you are familiar with this rock-solid path to becoming a network security expert, wait no more; enroll for the best cybersecurity course at the link given in the introduction of this page.