Most organizations are opting to have white hats search for vulnerabilities in different systems, networks, and even users to identify the weak points that can be used to attack. Penetration testing entails the legal attempts to hack an organization with the purpose of finding all possible avenues that can be exploited by real hackers during attacks. Learning to be a penetration tester takes you through the same concepts of hacking that black hats use. Black hats only use these hacking skills for their own malicious purposes, while white hats use the hacking skills they have to help organizations protect themselves. In a penetration testing course, the tools and techniques that are used during real attacks are the ones that get taught. This ensures that white hats are at par with black hats as far as skills and techniques are concerned.
Leading universities and online learning academies have warmed up to the idea of teaching this course. A comprehensive outline of what the course covers can be obtained from SANS, and it outlines the following:
The initial training introduces a learner to cybersecurity and ethical hacking in general. The learner then progresses and learns the categories of learning tools, techniques, and exploits that are used during hacks. The real ethical hacking then begins where learners are taught about web-based systems penetration testing using tools and techniques that hackers rely on to compromise such systems. From web-apps, learners are taught about network penetration where different tools that can compromise networks and devices connected to the networks are taught. At this point, the learner is able to scout for networks, steal network passwords, observe the traffic flowing in a network, and target devices connected to the network.
The stage of penetration testing involves learning social engineering techniques that can be used to hack the users. Users are often referred to as the weakest links in the cybersecurity chain because they can be easily manipulated. White hats are taught the techniques and tools that they can use to dig up background information about a user, target them with a social engineering attack, and take advantage of the user when he or she has fallen prey to the attack. Commonly, social engineering allows hackers to steal login credentials to highly secure systems, or directly steal data and funds by ordering the users to make unauthorized transactions. Lastly, the penetration testing course trains students on how to steal data from mobile devices. It might seem as though the course might lead to more malicious hackers, but, in the real sense, it produces white hats that protect organizations from black hats. Penetration testing courses are also neatly structured so that they promote ethical values in the IT world.
Learning penetration testing thrusts you into a lucrative career of being a vulnerability assessment consultant or a penetration tester. As the number of malicious actors continues to rise, organizations are going to be in demand of experts that can find vulnerabilities in their systems before the hackers can. Statistics show that organizations are continually increasing their IT spending on cybersecurity, and hiring a pen tester is one of the best investments that they can make. Therefore, it is worthwhile to learn penetration testing as it can guarantee a stable and well-paying career in the cybersecurity industry.