When people hear the word “hacking”, they tend to get cautious because it is a term that is normally associated with malicious activity. However, ethical hacking is very different from that because it is used for the benefit of the industry. Ethical hacking is used to find loopholes in target systems so that those weaknesses and vulnerabilities may be addressed later on. An Ethical Hacker does not do any kind of malicious activity to hurt the system, instead, they strive to make it better.
If you wish to become a Certified Ethical Hacker, you first need to know a few things about the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants (EC-Council). It is an organization that certifies people in different skills. Ec-Council CEH Certification Practice Test is known as the creator and owner of Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) credential. It also offers other credentials like Certified Network Defender (CND), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO) and many more.
Certified Ethical Hacking certification is intended for site administrators, security professionals, auditors, security officers and basically anyone who is concerned about the safety and security of the network infrastructure. CEH certification was introduced in 2003 and since then it has provided the best ethical hacking standard worldwide. CEH even became the baseline certification for the United States Department of Defense. It is also ANSI-compliant which increases its value and credibility. To become CEH certified, you need to pass two exams, namely CEH (ANSI) and CEH (Practical).
CEH Exam
Passing CEH (ANSI) exam can change your life, but in order to do that, you first need to know the exam. The code for CEH (ANSI) exam is 312-50 and it comprises of 125 questions. All of the questions are based on the multiple-choice format. Each candidate has exactly 4 hours to answer all of the questions. The passing score for the exam ranges from 60% to 85% depending on the questions included in the exam. The cost for this test is $950 USD.
Upon completion of 312-50 exam, you are required to take CEH (Practical) test. This exam requires the candidates to complete 20 practical tasks in 6 hours. The passing score for this exam is 70%. There are a few different topics that make up the practical exam. You need to prepare for all of these topics properly to do your best and pass the test. These are some important skills that CEH (Practical) exam measures:
- Ability to understand attack vectors and perform network scanning to classify vulnerable parts of the network
- Ability to execute user enumeration, OS banner grabbing and service
- Ability to execute steganography, steganalysis attacks, system hacking and packet sniffing
- Ability to use and identify malware, computer worms and viruses
- Ability to conduct web application and web server attacks and execute SQL injection /cryptography attacks
- Ability to identify security loopholes in the network
Preparation
CEH 312-50 is an important exam and it has a lot of benefits, so it means that you can’t take it lightly. Therefore, you need to manage your time efficiently so that you are able to cover all of the topics in time.
It is recommended that you start your preparation as soon as possible because it will be difficult for you to cover all the topics quickly. You need to make sure that you give each and every topic the right amount of time so that you gain a working knowledge of all the required domains.
If you are going to spend $950 USD on CEH 312-50 exam, it would not be a big deal to spend a few extra dollars on a quality training course. If you prefer self-study, then you can go to ExamSnap website, where you can find CEH Certified Ethical Hacker Online Training Course. Here you will find a number of practice questions and CEH video lectures that you can use for your preparation. With these ExamSnap materials, you will be able to prepare at your own pace. If you want a live instructor, then you should choose a live training course which will allow you to interact with the seasoned CEH experts.
You can also find a lot of free study sources online and they will help you learn everything that you need to know to pass your CEH 312-50 exam. However, when you are using free sources, make sure that the materials you found are of good quality. Outdated materials are not only useless but can also confuse you which will result in poor exam scores.
Conclusion
There is no such thing as a perfect system or network in this world. There are always some loopholes and problems and it is only a matter of time before these loopholes are exploited by people with malicious intent. Therefore, the need for ethical hackers has grown. These professionals are allowed to hack into systems and networks for various organizations to find out any vulnerability that may exist. CEH certification requires a lot of skill and experience, but it will become a fruitful journey if you are able to pull through.