Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Hackers are certainly innovators and constantly find new ways to attack information networks, systems and exploit system vulnerabilities. Savvy businesses proactively protect their information systems by engaging the services and expertise of IT professionals skilled in beating hackers at their own game (often called "whitehat hackers" or simply "whitehats"). Such professionals use the same skills and techniques used by hackers to identify system vulnerabilities, access points for penetration, and prevent unwanted access to network and information systems.

The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) credential is an intermediate level credential offered by the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants (EC-Council). It's a must-have for IT professionals pursuing careers in ethical hacking. CEH credential holders possess skills and knowledge on hacking practices in areas such as footprinting and reconnaissance, scanning networks, enumeration, system hacking, Trojans, worms and viruses, sniffers, denial of service attacks, social engineering, session hijacking, hacking web servers, wireless networks and web applications, SQL injection, cryptography, penetration testing, evading IDS, firewalls and honeypots, and more.

To obtain the CEH certification, candidates must pass an examination priced at $500. A comprehensive five day CEH training course is recommended with the exam presented at the end of training. Candidates wishing to self-study for the exam may do so but must submit verification of at least two years of work experience in information security with employer verification. Self-study candidates are also required to pay an additional $100 application fee. Education may be substituted for experience, but this is approved on a case-by-case basis.

Because technology in the field of hacking changes almost daily, CEH credential holders are required to obtain 120 continuing education credits in each 3 year cycle, with at least 20 credits obtained each year.

Table 3: CEH Facts & Figures

Certification Name	Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
Prerequisites/Required Courses	Training is highly recommended. Without formal training, candidates must possess at least two years of information security related experience, an educational background in information security, pay a non-refundable eligibility application fee of $100, and submit an Exam Eligibility Application prior to purchasing an exam voucher.
Number of Exams	1 exam: #312-50
Cost per Exam	$500 USD. The exam is administered by Pearson VUE; exam voucher much be purchased through EC-Council.
URL	www.eccouncil.org/Certification/certified-ethical-hacker
Self-Study Materials	EC-Council instructor-led courses, computer-based training, online courses and more are available at eccouncil.org. A CEH Skills Assessment is available for credential seekers.