How to Become a Secure Programmer

The information technology sector is among the fastest-growing industries in the world. However, software and software products are evolving faster than the rate at which software security is evolving. No wonder the requirements and vacancies for a secure programmer are rising around the world. More and more IT professionals are considering secure web programming as a career due to the reputation and the scope of growth. To pursue a career as a secure web programming professional, you need to have essential and fundamental skills for developing secure and robust applications. However, the journey to becoming an expert is not easy, and we are fully aware of this fact. This is why you need the right platform to learn and achieve your desired goals.

Let’s breakdown what it takes to be a secure programmer.

How Can I Pursue a Career as a Secure Programmer?

You need to possess a few distinct qualities to become a security software developer. An enterprising individual who is ambitious, adventurous, energetic, confident, extroverted, assertive, enthusiastic, and optimistic, has a bright future as a professional in this field. Apart from all this, a security software developer should be dominant, motivated, persuasive, and artistic.

Skills Required to Progress as a Secure Web Programing Expert

Here are some skills that you will need to progress as a secure web programming expert:

1. Understanding of programming and cybersecurity

If you wish to pursue a career as a secure software programmer, you will need to understand computer programming and cybersecurity. You must have the ability to apply application security at every level of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). At the same time, knowing and staying up to date with the OWASP Top 10 and threat modeling methodologies will help you make better-informed decisions.

2. Strong cryptography skills — Application Encryption

There is always a probability that cryptography, especially encryption, is not one of the primary objectives of a secure programmer. These cases make data prone to attacks from the outside world. Encrypting data before storing it on a database, big data, or on a cloud will help secure your data.

3. Static AppSec Testing (SAST)

SAST is a set of technologies engineered to analyze the vulnerabilities in the source code before compiling it. This is also referred to as white-box testing. These methodologies help eliminate even highly complex vulnerabilities, which are not visible until you get hold of the source code.

4. Dynamic AppSec Testing (DAST)

Another similar trait that a secure programmer must possess is the ability to perform DAST, also known as black-box security testing. DAST uses methodologies to test vulnerabilities during the running state of the application. The set of technologies under this kind of testing opt for the approaches adopted by the perpetrators.

5. Soft Skills

There is no mandatory personal skill set required by an AppSec engineer; but having a few of the below-mentioned soft skills can help your security team to perform better:

◉ Oral and written communication skills: For writing comprehensive reports

◉ Teamwork: Proper interaction is the key to mitigate security risks

◉ Decision-making capability: For adopting new countermeasures for unknown attacks

◉ Analytical skills: To foresee which application vulnerability can become a major threat

How Can You Become a Secure Programmer?

You can opt to train in college or at a job as a software professional. Having prior experience in handling security threats will help you progress in this role. You can gain experience in this field by interning at a corporate cybersecurity department within a security operations center.

If you are new to programming, have just started learning python, or are a network administrator interested in programming or a professional who is working in application development and computer security, then these courses can help you:

Secure programming in C

It is one of the topmost criteria to have knowledge of secure coding with C. C programming language is so flexible and versatile that it is commonly used with a number of applications. But it is also vulnerable to exploitation due to the same reasons. This is why learning how to write a secure code is important to grow as a professional.

In this course, you will first learn about the overall security of a C application. You will then get an insight into writing a better and secure C code that can prevent pitfalls commonly found in the C language.

Furthermore, you will learn how vulnerabilities and security flaws caused by incorrect use of dynamic memory management functions can be avoided. You will also understand how to eliminate integer-related problems caused by signed integer overflows, truncation errors, and unsigned integer wrapping.

Secure programming in C++

C++ programs are usually insecure even though the language is popularly used for writing codes. There are several vulnerabilities found in the C++ code because of which hackers can exploit it. Identifying and understanding the potential errors made with C++ programs is important before you can write a secure C++ code.

This course will take you through the entire process by providing vulnerable code examples, exploiting the codes, and then demonstrating corrected code that cannot be affected by exploitation.

Python Security Microdegree

Python programming language is among the most popular languages. This is because it is easy to learn and is open source, with tons of libraries for various implementations.

In this course, you will learn about basic and intermediate Python programming like data functions, structures, object-oriented programming, etc., to provide a foundation for any programming project. You will also learn about Python’s practical use in cybersecurity like password cracking, socket programming, and cross-platform scripting.

By the end of the course, you will be able to write Python programs for general purpose applications and use Python for cybersecurity.

Web Application Penetration Testing

This course focuses on the practical side of penetration testing and the theory behind every attack. You will first learn how you can set up a lab and install the needed software for practicing penetration testing on your own machine.

This course will provide basic introductions to a website, a web server, and database, which are essential to understand how a website functions. Once the introduction is complete, you’ll learn how to exploit these components and the method of communication to carry out several powerful attacks.

By the end of this course, you’ll have a thorough understanding of launching attacks, website testing, and web applications security. The training program will make you efficient in fixing security vulnerabilities and securing websites from cyberattacks.

Source: eccouncil.org

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How Serious Could a DDoS Attack Get?

It is no new knowledge that a DDoS attack is bad for any business; however, most people underestimate the severity of a DDoS attack. As notorious DDoS attacks continue to get bigger and more damaging, the seemingly less significant and more subtle attacks might very well be the ones your organization should be worried about.

Most organizations rarely take preventive measures until the attack has occurred. The implication of not having a response plan for DDoS attacks can be extremely damaging. Understanding how this attack works and how to mitigate them can help your organization lessen the chances of falling victim to a DDoS attack.

This is why the EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) program offers seamless learning progress, beginning from where you stopped in your CEH program. Read the article below to find out more!

DDoS Meaning

DDoS is an acronym for distributed denial of service, refers to a type of cyber-attack where a malicious actor tries to make a network or system inaccessible to authorized users. The attacker does this by temporarily or permanently disrupting the services of the host linked to the internet.

A DDoS attack aims to saturate the targets with more traffic than their network or server can handle. The traffic can include fake packets, requests for connections, or incoming messages. Websites and online services are often the targets for DDoS attacks and the ultimate goal is to render them inoperative for a given timeframe.

What Is the Purpose of DDoS attacks?

The main aim of the DDoS attack is to prevent authorized users from accessing their websites by overwhelming their server with more requests than the target can handle. Other motives include:

1. Ransom

Most of the time it is all for the money. Greedy attackers want money they didn’t work for, so they attack those who have worked for it.

2. Political Motives

Sometimes, it’s for political reasons. The web has become a new battlefield for nations to settle their scores. Since most nation-states depend on the internet to run their governmental duties and administrations, DDoS attacks are highly effective cyber weapons.

3. For Fun

Other times, DDoS attacks are just for fun. Though a weird way to have fun, most cyber criminals just love the adrenaline rush that comes with breaking into a system or network regardless of its size.

4. Competition

It isn’t unheard of for competitors to introduce DDoS attacks to crumble or at least disrupt the services of their rivals. At the end of the day, when the website of your rival is down, the chances of traffic being redirected to your website is high.

5. Revenge

At other times, it may be more than a competition. The motive behind a DDoS attack might be darker. This could apply to not just organizations, but individuals and governmental agencies. This type of attack is launched to seek revenge. For instance, an employee who was unjustly let go or an individual with a grudge.

6. Hacktivism

DDoS attacks might be engaged to voice an opinion on the web. The attacker might either support or oppose a certain ideology such as a political ideology, ethical concerns, online gaming, banking procedures, and other business operations.

How bad is a DDoS attack?

According to a survey, DDoS attacks are continuously on the rise. Since DDoS attacks are more narrowly targeted incidents, some businesses are more vulnerable to the disruption of their processes than others. Most organizations underestimate the potential threat posed by DDoS attacks.

Likewise, considering the basic launching cost of a DDoS attack (about 50 dollars per day), it has become the most widespread and affordable cyberattack. DDoS  techniques also make it easier to launch an attack with a long-lasting impact on the target. With large numbers of businesses relying on the internet for their day-to-day functions, almost every business is at risk.

Statistics about DDoS  Trends

◉ DoS attacks and DDoS attacks are the most widespread form of cyber-attacks.

◉ DDoS attacks are treated as a federal crime in the United States with possible imprisonment as penalties (that is, under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act).

◉ The rate of recurrence of DDoS attacks has risen more than 2.5 times just between 2014 and 2017.

◉ The average cost of a DDoS attack falls between $20,000 to $40,000 per hour.

◉ According to the survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab, this type of attack might cause considerable losses on an organization’s online resources. The result suggested an average figure between $52,000 to $444,000

◉ The largest DDoS attack occurred on March 5, 2018, and it had a mind-blowing average size of 26.37 GBps in Q2 2018.

◉ In the United Kingdom, the cumulative cost of DDoS attacks was estimated to be £1bn ($1.3 billion) alone in 2019.

◉ The cumulative amount of DDoS attacks has been projected to reach 17 million by 2020 globally.

What can happen if you perform a DDoS attack without permission?

If you perform a DDoS without the permission of the client or user, or you obtain, make, or supply a booter service, it can cost you up to $500,000 fine and you could face a charge of ten years imprisonment.

Is a DDoS attack traceable?

Like a typical botnet, Distributed Denial of service attacks have become sneakier and more difficult to detect. With layers of bot legions masking the initial source, tracing a DDoS attack is a perplexing challenge, especially with the whole smokescreen concept as well as the onion routing procedures.

Now more than ever, tracing a DDoS attack to its source is becoming crucial. In some cases, it is critical to ID the source not only to identify who the perpetrator is, but also because some DDoS attacks will not die if you can’t get to the source.

The question you should be asking is if it is possible to trace the attacker’s IP address because whenever a system is compromised by a DDoS attack, all the identified IP addresses belong to the system of the victims excluding the IP address of the malicious actor. For the CERT, it is particularly hard to detect the perpetrator and the person behind the bots.

Why do we need penetration testing?

Penetration testers or ethical hackers ensure security improvements by testing the vulnerabilities in an organization’s network, information system, and web applications. Penetration testing is the preventative measure that lowers an organization’s risk of real cyber-attacks that can impair the organization’s finances, reputation, consumer trust, and other crucial functions. You need Pen Testing training for the following reasons:

◉ Penetration testing guarantees that the right controls have been applied and that they are effective. It also offers reassurance for information security and senior management.

◉ If your organization is attacked through any social engineering, your security analyst can bypass the tougher perimeter control, revealing the less secured internal asset

◉ Your ECSA can easily assess the vulnerabilities within your organization’s application (software), the infrastructure (hardware), and human resources to improve controls.

◉ It helps you to detect new bugs in existing software. While you can fix vulnerabilities with patches and updates, they can also present new vulnerabilities, which can be avoided with pen-testing.

◉ It helps to test applications that are typically loophole for DDoS and DoS attacks.

Is penetration testing a good career?

In a nutshell, penetration testing is a job for good people who can do bad things to save an organization from all forms of social engineering attacks. Companies are constantly on the lookout for skilled security analysts who can break into their systems or networks, test their vulnerabilities, so they know where the problem lies, and also fix the issues to prevent a potential attack.

Pen testing jobs are the hottest jobs within this industry. Jobs are available within different industries, including finance, healthcare, and other government parastatals. Likewise, they are paid mouth-watering salaries. According to PayScale.com, Penetration Testers are paid an annual mean salary of $83,823.

No need to search for “Penetration testing training near me,” you can save yourself the stress by signing up for our globally recognized Penetration testing course online today!

Source: eccouncil.org

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How to use Kali Linux & Raspberry Pi for Wireless Penetration Testing

Why Kali Linux?

If you’ve ever searched penetration testing, you’ve most likely stumbled upon a piece of software called Kali Linux, or more commonly called “Kali”. It is one of the most common and open-source programs that is used for pentesting nowadays.

Kali Linux is one of the many Linux systems that is based on Debian. It is created and overseen by Offensive Security as the successor of the fiercely well-known Backtrack Linux program. In brief, Kali could be a write testing tool compartment. Kali incorporates over 600 computer programs and utilities that write analyzers commonly utilize. The tremendous larger part of these is free and open source. The Kali Tools page records the apparatuses included within the current conveyance.

How to Use Kali Linux for Penetration Testing

Kali Linux consists of 100 security testing tools such as SQL map, Metasploit, hydra, etc. Further, Kali Linux is also equipped with wireless security testing rules. “Aircrack-ng” and “Kismet” are the major tools of them.

Aircrack-ng

This is a wireless security testing software suite. It comprises of an organized packet analyzer, a WEP organizes saltine, and WPA/WPA2-PSK among other sets of wireless auditing apparatuses. Here are the foremost well-known apparatuses included within the Aircrack-ng suite:

◉ Airmon-Ng: converts your wireless card into a promiscuous wireless card
◉ Airmon-Ng: captures packages of desired specification, and it is particularly useful in deciphering passwords
◉ Aircrack-Ng: used to decrypt passwords. It is also able to use statistical techniques to decipher WEP and dictionaries for WPA and WPA2 after capturing the WPA handshake
◉ Aireplay-Ng: can be used to generate or accelerate traffic in an access point
◉ Airdecap-Ng: decrypts wireless traffic once the key is deciphered

Main features that are supported:

◉ Support for WEP, WPA/WPA2-PSK passwords
◉ Fast WEP and WPA password decryption
◉ Packet sniffer and injector
◉ Ability to create a virtual tunnel
◉ Automated WEP key password recovery
◉ Password list management

Kismet Wireless

This is a multi-platform free Wireless LAN analyzer, sniffer, and IDS (intrusion detection system). It is compatible with almost any kind of wireless card. Using it in sniffing mode allows you to work with wireless networks such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.

Main features:

◉ Ability to run in passive mode
◉ Easy detection of wireless clients and access points
◉ Wireless intrusion detection system
◉ Scans wireless encryption levels for a given AP
◉ Supports channel hopping
◉ Network logging

Next Level of Kali Linux

Raspberry Pi has continuously been showcased as a little, reasonable, credit card-sized, turn-key microcomputer. Their generally low profile and well-supported equipment adornments have made it an incredible choice for versatile infiltration testing. Luckily, Kali Linux is one of those frameworks and an incredible choice for setting up not as it were a versatile pen-testing framework but moreover one at your work area if you can’t manage a more costly PC.

A Raspberry Pi is a fantastically reasonable and simple way to get started with pentesting that’s reasonable and reasonably direct, but not without impediments. A need for direct Burp Suite installation can be an issue in case you are doing web entrance testing but can be overcome with OWASP Destroy, netcat, etc. The need for a graphics card can restrain a few resource-intensive forms, as can the nature of the Raspberry Pi itself.

How to Become a Certified Security Analyst

Once you become a Certified Ethical Hacker, obtaining the EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) certification will take your pentesting skills to the next level. Unlike most other pen-testing programs that only follow a generic kill chain methodology, the ECSA presents a set of distinguishable comprehensive methodologies that can cover different pentesting requirements across different verticals.With this knowledge, you can bring peace of mind to an organization knowing their network is more secure from today’s biggest and toughest cybercriminals.

Source: eccouncil.org

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How to use Kali Linux & Raspberry Pi for Wireless Penetration Testing

Why Kali Linux?

If you’ve ever searched penetration testing, you’ve most likely stumbled upon a piece of software called Kali Linux, or more commonly called “Kali”. It is one of the most common and open-source programs that is used for pentesting nowadays.

Kali Linux is one of the many Linux systems that is based on Debian. It is created and overseen by Offensive Security as the successor of the fiercely well-known Backtrack Linux program. In brief, Kali could be a write testing tool compartment. Kali incorporates over 600 computer programs and utilities that write analyzers commonly utilize. The tremendous larger part of these is free and open source. The Kali Tools page records the apparatuses included within the current conveyance.

How to Use Kali Linux for Penetration Testing

Kali Linux consists of 100 security testing tools such as SQL map, Metasploit, hydra, etc. Further, Kali Linux is also equipped with wireless security testing rules. “Aircrack-ng” and “Kismet” are the major tools of them.

Aircrack-ng

This is a wireless security testing software suite. It comprises of an organized packet analyzer, a WEP organizes saltine, and WPA/WPA2-PSK among other sets of wireless auditing apparatuses. Here are the foremost well-known apparatuses included within the Aircrack-ng suite:

◉ Airmon-Ng: converts your wireless card into a promiscuous wireless card
◉ Airmon-Ng: captures packages of desired specification, and it is particularly useful in deciphering passwords
◉ Aircrack-Ng: used to decrypt passwords. It is also able to use statistical techniques to decipher WEP and dictionaries for WPA and WPA2 after capturing the WPA handshake
◉ Aireplay-Ng: can be used to generate or accelerate traffic in an access point
◉ Airdecap-Ng: decrypts wireless traffic once the key is deciphered

Main features that are supported:

◉ Support for WEP, WPA/WPA2-PSK passwords
◉ Fast WEP and WPA password decryption
◉ Packet sniffer and injector
◉ Ability to create a virtual tunnel
◉ Automated WEP key password recovery
◉ Password list management

Kismet Wireless

This is a multi-platform free Wireless LAN analyzer, sniffer, and IDS (intrusion detection system). It is compatible with almost any kind of wireless card. Using it in sniffing mode allows you to work with wireless networks such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.

Main features:

◉ Ability to run in passive mode
◉ Easy detection of wireless clients and access points
◉ Wireless intrusion detection system
◉ Scans wireless encryption levels for a given AP
◉ Supports channel hopping
◉ Network logging

Next Level of Kali Linux

Raspberry Pi has continuously been showcased as a little, reasonable, credit card-sized, turn-key microcomputer. Their generally low profile and well-supported equipment adornments have made it an incredible choice for versatile infiltration testing. Luckily, Kali Linux is one of those frameworks and an incredible choice for setting up not as it were a versatile pen-testing framework but moreover one at your work area if you can’t manage a more costly PC.

A Raspberry Pi is a fantastically reasonable and simple way to get started with pentesting that’s reasonable and reasonably direct, but not without impediments. A need for direct Burp Suite installation can be an issue in case you are doing web entrance testing but can be overcome with OWASP Destroy, netcat, etc. The need for a graphics card can restrain a few resource-intensive forms, as can the nature of the Raspberry Pi itself.

How to Become a Certified Security Analyst

Once you become a Certified Ethical Hacker, obtaining the EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) certification will take your pentesting skills to the next level. Unlike most other pen-testing programs that only follow a generic kill chain methodology, the ECSA presents a set of distinguishable comprehensive methodologies that can cover different pentesting requirements across different verticals.With this knowledge, you can bring peace of mind to an organization knowing their network is more secure from today’s biggest and toughest cybercriminals.

Source: eccouncil.org

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10 Reasons Why ECSA Should Be Your Next Step

Do you wish to be a penetration tester? Or you are new to the cybersecurity industry and are looking to learn penetration testing? This article will help you understand how EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) can be the best penetration testing program for you and how it can contribute to your cybersecurity career.

Here are ten reasons why you should pursue the ECSA–

1. Accredited by GCHQ and CREST

ECSA is accredited by GCHQ and CREST, which are two non-profit organizations working in the interest of the cybersecurity industry. U.K.’s cybersecurity mission is led by NCSC (Nation Cybersecurity Centre) which is a part of GCHQ. NCSC supports the U.K.’s critical services from cyberattacks, report the attacks, and work towards the improvement of security practices by advising citizens and organizations. GCHQ certified training (GCT) is an initiative in the U.K. and aim to reduce cybersecurity skill gap in the country. With all due dedication towards cybersecurity, GCHQ recognizes ECSA as a most comprehensive program in the field of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.

2. ECSA recognized equivalent to CPSA

CREST is an international non-profit accreditation and certification body and has recognized ECSA as equivalent to their CPSA (CREST Practitioner Security Analyst) program.

3. EC-Council’s proprietary pen testing methodology

ECSA teaches a lot of penetration testing methodologies that are pre-existing and also those which are proprietary pen testing methodologies. Penetration testing is not a pre-defined task. The penetration tester should be proficient and creative to perform vulnerability assessment as every pen-testing is not similar. EC-Council, therefore, encourages the students to be creators of knowledge, and the curriculum includes EC-Council’s exclusive penetration testing methodologies like Cyber Kill Chain, OSINT, etc. Not to mention that these technologies are not taught within any other penetration testing programs.

4. Pen-test a variety of digital devices

ECSA is designed to cover penetration testing services as provided by the pen-testing service providers and consulting firms in the industry. The program has a broad curriculum encompassing different technologies like network, web application, social engineering, cloud, database, etc.

In today’s insecure cyber world, everything is connected to the internet, and therefore, cyberattacks are not limited to web applications or servers and networks. When every digital device is connected to the internet, the device must be protected from being compromised. It is for this reason that the ECSA curriculum is developed on a broader platform that includes Mobile, IoT, and other wireless devices too.

5. Social Engineering Penetration Testing Module

According to Wombat Security’s 2019 State of the Phish, 83% of all companies reported being a victim of phishing attacks in the previous year. Phishing attack is one of the common forms of social engineering attacks, and therefore, the subject requires specific attention. ECSA has an exclusive module dedicatedly marked for social engineering attacks, their forms, and penetration testing, which is a rarity amongst top pen-testing credentials.

6. Report writing skills

ECSA develops strong report writing skills to draft a valuable and comprehensive penetration report. As a penetration tester, the report is the only tangible output that can help you in explaining the assessment performed and the valuable feedback that you want to recommend. A penetration testing report summarizes your performance and is a sellable document. The client may disagree with the outcome of penetration testing in the absence of a well-drafted report.

By creating a separate module on report writing skills, EC-Council has made an extraordinary effort of developing relative skills too. ECSA aims to develop all-around skills of potential penetration testers.

7. Fully hands-on with iLabs Cyber Range

ECSA is a hands-on program that demonstrates the real-time experience of specific areas on the penetration testing program to provide a more profound understanding of the concepts. The labs take you through the penetration testing process, beginning from scope and engagement to report writing. The practical approach of the program can be achieved with the effective use of EC-Council’s iLabs Cyber Range.

iLabs Cyber Range gives round-the-clock access to the students to practice their skills at their convenience. It allows you to dynamically access a host of Virtual Machines preconfigured with vulnerabilities, exploits, tools, and scripts from anywhere with an internet connection on one simple click. iLabs are the most cost-effective and easy to use live range lab solution available.

8. Blended with both manual and automated penetration testing approach

ECSA is a combination of both manual and automated penetration testing methodologies. There are many advanced tools available in the market, but without adequate knowledge about it, they cannot be exploited. Having learned manual penetration testing would help you make proper use of high-priced sophisticated tools. ECSA is a perfect blend of both manual and automated penetration testing.

9. Comprehensive scoping and engagement methodology

Most of the penetration testing programs overlook an essential component of defining the scope of the penetration testing process. ECSA has a dedicated module that describes the pre-engagement activities in detail. The module teaches how to initiate and set the scope and Rule and Engagement (RoE) for the penetration test assignment. It is only ECSA that gives you complete knowledge on scoping and engagement methodology.

10. Mapped to NICE 2.0 Framework

ECSA is mapped to NICE 2.0 Framework’s Analyze (AN) and Collect and Operate (CO) specialty area. To elaborate –

Analyze (AN) stand for the specialty areas responsible for highly specialized review and evaluation of incoming cybersecurity information to determine its usefulness for intelligence.

Collect and Operate (CO) stand for the specialty areas responsible for specialized denial and deception operations and collection of cybersecurity information that may be used to develop intelligence.

Being aligned to two specific NICE Framework specialties, ECSA creates a lot of employment potential for those aspiring to be successful penetration testers.

From the overall analysis, we can conclude that ECSA has quite a few strong components that are not included in many other programs. The course curriculum is broader and covers the deeper aspects of penetration testing. EC-Council also provides standard templates for future reference. These templates would serve as handy reference material while performing on-the-job penetration testing till you get accustomed with.

Source: eccouncil.org

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How to prepare for the ECSA exam?

The EC-Council’s Certified Security Analyst certification is a must for those who are looking to advance in the penetration tester field. It is among the top penetration testing programs of the industry and is the perfect next step to add more value to your cybersecurity career.

Who should get the ECSA certification?

The ECSA is for those cybersecurity professionals that are passionate about securing an organization by infiltrating one’s security walls to detect vulnerabilities.

Who can get the ECSA certification?

To be able to earn the ECSA certification, you must have at least 2-years of work experience in the information security domain or attend an official EC-Council training (either through EC-Council or through an accredited training partner).

EC-Council believes that everyone should be able to access course material regardless of one’s location and availability. For this reason, should you chose to attend an official training, you can opt from any of the following modes of training:

◉ iLearn (self-paced learning)

◉ iWeek (live-online instructor-led training)

◉ Masterclass (in-person training by EC-Council Master instructors)

◉ Accredited Training Partner (classroom training)

Tips for the day of the exam

1. Ensure that you are carrying all the right documentation with you.

2. Wake up and be ready for the exam well in advance. If you’re late, you will have to schedule the exam once again.

3. Stay hydrated. The exam is 4-hours long. Ensure that you are sufficiently hydrated.

Tips while attempting the ECSA exam

It is always recommended to keep an eye on the time when attending any exam. However, here are a couple of ways you can divide your time to ensure maximum results:

Step 1:

There are 150 questions in the exam. Quickly scan through the paper and answer the ones whose answer you are positive of, setting aside the rest for later. Make sure that you do not spend more than one minute when answering a question, regardless of how tough it may seem. Remember, you can always come back to it later.

Step 2:

By spending a minute on each question (150 minutes), you have used less than three hours for your first run-through of the paper. With 90 minutes left on the clock, you can now attempt those questions you ranked “tough,” giving them an additional minute, two minutes each.

Step 3:

Assuming that you had 30 under the “tough” category, you now have 30 minutes left to do a quick scan through of the whole paper, to ensure that you have answered all the questions.

Source: eccouncil.org

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A Quick Note on EC-Council ECSA Certification

Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field and one in which organizations are always hiring experienced and certified professionals. With more and more of our lives in the cloud and on the net, securing personal and corporate information has to be a top priority. Cybersecurity Certifications demonstrate the skill of your IT team.

What is the ECSA Certification? 

ECSA is a certification offered by the EC-Council that explains advanced uses of LPT (Licensed Penetration Tester) approaches and techniques to security professionals. The exam comprises a penetration test and a written report.

The best reason to choose ECSA is hands-on testing. The exam is not a bundle of questions about how one would approach a penetration test, but an actual exam in a well-designed lab environment. This proves to you that your IT professionals really do have the certifications to secure the company systems.

Penetration tests are an important part of the administration and design of any secure network, and people eligible of performing them are valuable. This certification concentrates on practicing skills rather than classroom teaching. This vendor-neutral certification qualifies an individual to work on equipment from multiple sources. It is globally accepted.

What are the Prerequisites for ECSA Certification?

To sit for the ECSA exam, one must have either attended a training course at an approved center or submit two years of experience in information security.

While they do not officially have to have the CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) certification, but it is highly advised. This is also a good certification for anyone entering cybersecurity. Note that the CEH does have the EC-Council Network Security Administrator (ENSA) certification as a prerequisite.

Who should take ECSA?

Experienced security professionals and ethical hackers who you want or require validation of their expertise to conduct and analyze penetration tests. It is intended for students that have the experience and real-world understanding to move to the next level. As the experience requirement instead of training is two years, this is obviously not intended to be an entry-level certification. It follows on from the CEH certification.

• Read: The Benefits of EC Council Security Analyst (ECSA) Certification

In fact, the certification is aimed at existing network and system administrators and information security analysts. It's also good for cybersecurity risk assessors.

The program is specifically directed at the audiences of server administrators, firewall administrators, information security analysts, system administrators, and risk assessment professionals. For all these professionals, there is a lot to be acquired by being ECSA certified.

Benefits of Being ECSA Certified.

The ECSA certification is an absolute practical program that is designed for expert and experienced IT professionals who bring with them a cumulative knowledge base across the years. The entire ECSA syllabus is specially created by the best in the industry to assure that learners acquire the maximum benefits out of it.

• A very specific reason behind IT professionals earning ECSA certification is the more comprehensive industry exposure they are can enjoy afterward. In fact, there is even better scope for industry recognition, as these professionals become season security professionals.
• Certified Security Analysts also learn to investigate and analyze the diverse outcomes of security tools used and security techniques influenced.
• Last but not least, the ECSA certified professionals are expert to walk on a successful career path that drives towards earning the LPT certification.

Job roles for ECSA Certified Professionals

• Accomplishing application and network penetration testing. This is carried using both manuals as well as automated methods.
• Creating and performing computer system audits to ascertain that these work properly and that all data is well protected from risks.
• Designing security procedures and policies and ensuring adherence to these.
• Investigating complex systems in accordance with industry best practices and protecting internal information.
• Spearheading investigations pertaining to security violations and other breaches and recommending effective solutions.

What can you do with ECSA?

• The objective of ECSA certification is to prove that your IT security professionals not only know about penetration tests but can execute them and carry out good analysis afterward. This makes them a more worthy member of the team.
• It is a stepping stone to the Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) certification, which is globally accepted as an expert-level ethical hacking certification. In fact, it is considered the most thorough penetration testing certification.

As the world becomes ever more aware of the significance of cybersecurity, more and more organizations are hiring advanced-level professionals to protect their assets.

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