For corporate enterprises today, security of the IT systems and infrastructure is a critical issue. Penetration testing and ethical hacking are both a part of the security strategy that companies use to guard against cyberattacks.
There are certainly some similarities between the two roles. First of all, both ethical hackers and penetration testers search for weaknesses in IT infrastructures and try to stop various intrusions. Also, in terms of high salaries and opportunities for advancement, the two occupations are equivalent.
Let’s start with ethical hacking.
What is ethical hacking?
The act of doing security assessments using hacker-like methods while receiving the necessary permissions and consent from the company you're hacking into is known as ethical hacking. The objective is to identify gaps that may exist and strengthen an organization's protection against data and security breaches by utilizing the tactics, techniques, and strategies used by hackers.
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What is penetration testing?
Finding vulnerabilities, malicious content, faults, and security hazards in your IT infrastructure is the process of penetration testing. To ensure your cyber security is impenetrable, it uses both manual and automated tools and approaches.
The goal of penetration testing is to identify security flaws in certain information systems without causing any harm, while ethical hacking covers a wider range of hacking techniques. Penetration testing is just one aspect of ethical hacking.
Who is a penetration tester and how to become one?
A penetration test is a coordinated evaluation done by a team of outside experts hired by a company, with the client company specifying the test's parameters. The test scope outlines the systems that must be tested as well as the procedures the tester will employ. The penetration tester then tries the client's system in accordance with the parameters they have set. To determine the risk these vulnerabilities pose to the client, the penetration tester takes advantage of any flaws they come across.
By conducting attacks on a company's current digital systems, penetration testers play a proactive, offensive role in cybersecurity. To uncover vulnerabilities that hackers could attack, these tests might employ a range of hacking tools and techniques. Testers meticulously record their actions throughout the process and produce a report on what they did and how successfully they violated security protocols.
Penetration testing is also used by businesses to ensure that their activities comply with applicable laws, regulations, and corporate policies.
To become a penetration tester, you need to start developing your penetration testing skills first. To check for vulnerabilities, pen testers must have a thorough understanding of information technology (IT) and security systems. Penetration testers should have technological skills including network and application security, threat modeling, programming languages such as Python, Java or Ruby, security assessment tools, cloud architecture, Linux, Windows, and MacOS environments and pentest management platforms like Invicti, Nmap, Nessus, Intruder, Wireshark, Astra…
Your second step is getting certified. Employing managers and recruiters can see that you have the necessary abilities by looking at your cybersecurity certificates. Earning a Penetration Testing certification will help your career enormously.
Who is an ethical hacker and how to become one?
As mentionned above, penetration testers are simply focused on performing penetration tests as specified by the client, while ethical hackers play a far larger role than penetration testers and utilize a wider range of strategies to thwart various sorts of cyberattacks.
Web application, web server, wireless network and system hacking, as well as forming blue and red teams for network exploitation attacks can be parts of an ethical hacker’s job description. Additionally, ethical hackers are essential for evaluating security procedures, creating defenses, and implementing defensive security measures.
Like many careers, it is not easy to get started in the field of ethical hacking, but anyone who puts in the effort can be able to shape a very lucrative career for themselves. If you want to become an ethical hacker, follow these steps:
Learn Linux/Unix (Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu, Kali Linux, BackTrack)
Learn popular programming languages that hackers use (JavaScript, Python, SQL…)
Learn how to safeguard yourself (Anonsurf, Proxychains, MacChanger)
Learn networking concepts (TCP/IP, DNS, Wireless, Bluetooth, Network Masks, CAN…)
Explore the hidden web
Learn more about vulnerabilities
Practice to ace hacking
CEH Certified Ethical Hacker is one of the most important certification programs in the cyber security field. You can download the CEH Certified Ethical Hacker All-in-One Exam Guide for free from our Free Documents page.
Does ethical hacking require coding?
Yes, but not necessarily in dept. You should at the very least have a fundamental understanding of many languages. You need to work on several flatforms after finishing your hacking course or anything else in order to gain experience and understand how things work. So the most crucial thing is to have a basic understanding of several programming languages. Python, JavaScript and Ruby/Perl are all good choices for ethical hackers.
Are Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing the same?
The answer is no. But they are similar in a sense. Let’s summarize this blog post and understand the key differences between ethical hacking and pen testing.
A single, short-term engagement is completed by penetration testers, while in-depth and thorough findings are produced by ethical hackers' ongoing engagement.
The security of a particular component of an information system is evaluated by penetration testers in accordance with a defined scope. Without being constrained by a scope specification, ethical hackers use numerous different cyberattacks to target an entire system.
Penetration testing is just one aspect of ethical hacking. With a cybersecurity Red Team—the team that provides security feedback from the viewpoint of the adversary—both positions overlap.
You'll find Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing courses with the most up-to-date content at Bilginç IT Academy. To get information about the trainings and to register, you can contact us by filling out the form on this page.