Does hands-on learning make you a better Ethical Hacker?

Lab-based training is practically oriented as it directly trains you to perform specific tasks. On the other hand, traditional classroom training primarily focuses on theory ignoring practical implementation. Hence, we find a large gap between their grades on paper and their actual performance. The main advantage of hands-on learning, especially for an ethical hacker, is that it allows individuals to transition from the “why” to the “how.” At the same time, engaging physically with different concepts allows students to gain hands-on skills.

Here’s why an ethical hacker needs hands-on learning:

Ethical hacking is a white hat activity where an information security expert attempts to penetrate the network to protect the infrastructure. This is why an ethical hacker performs the test within the scope defined, only after attaining permission from the organization. The goal of an ethical hacker is to identify vulnerabilities and attempt to exploit them to determine the extent of the compromise.

A training program prepares an individual to get the technical skills required to perform the job,hands-on learning is crucial to ensure real-time exposure to a sensitive hacking environment. The first thing to remember is that ethical hacking is a practical process, and thus, the training should be lab-oriented, thereby ensuring that skills required in the real-world are attained.

Practical techniques used by ethical hackers

Ethical hackers use hacking skills and methodologies often used by malicious actors. In brief, here are a few significant hacking techniques used:

◉ Scanning ports to find vulnerabilities. Ethical hackers use various port scanning tools to scan an organization’s network. They identify open ports to study the vulnerabilities associated with each port.

◉ Using tools to sniff and perform network traffic analysis.

◉ Analyzing the process of patch installation to ensure that the system is not affected by the new vulnerabilities.

◉ Evading intrusion detection systems, firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and honeypots.

◉ Applying social engineering techniques to get information about an organization’s computing environment.

To be ‘job-ready’, one should have hands-on training on various hacking methodologies. This, coupled with both theoretical and practical approaches to learning, ensures that you have the necessary skills to enter the industry. A lab-intrinsic ethical hacking program ensures that you get the right skills. This is crucial to secure the cyberinfrastructure of an organization.

CEH – A constructive hands-on training program in Ethical Hacking

EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) is a theoretical and hands-on certification program. It starts with the basics, fields of penetration testing, software installation, and more. The course trains you on everything from analyzing to exploiting the defined scope of IT architecture.

The practical approach of CEH –

◉ CEH is the world’s most comprehensive ethical hacking program with 20 of the most current security domains.

◉ 40% of the program is dedicated to hands-on learning.

◉ In 20 vast modules, the program covers 340 attack technologies that are commonly used by hackers.

◉ The program trains you in the five phases of ethical hacking. This is reconnaissance, gaining access, enumeration, maintaining access, and covering tracks. All these phases of ethical hacking are practiced in the lab too.

◉ It has 140 labs that mimic real-time scenarios.

◉ There are around 2200 hacking tools to allow you to understand and react according to the attacker’s mindset.

◉ EC-Council also provides the iLab range which focuses on the most common tools and techniques used by cybercriminals. Technologies like SQL injection, Cryptography, network scanners, IDS and IPS, and many more.

◉ The labs simulate real-life scenarios using different tools. This includes Kali Linux, dedicated to information security professionals.

CEH is one of the most recognized ethical hacking certifications in the industry. A follow-up to the CEH is another significant ethical hacking certification, the CEH (Practical), which is a 100% hands-on examination.

Key features of CEH Practical

◉ The world’s first ethical hacking industry readiness assessment available live, online, proctored, and verified.

◉ It tests the limits of students while unearthing vulnerabilities.

◉ SMEs from across the world came together to create the CEH Practical exam.

◉ The exam includes 20 real-life scenarios designed to validate the essential skills of being an ethical hacker.

◉ It is not a simulated exam. It asks to prove the application of knowledge acquired to meet real-life instances.

Source: eccouncil.org